When Ethan Couch woke up from brain surgery 18 months ago his nurse suggested he go home and think of a wish.
"It's
got to be what you want, what you truly want. She walked out of the
room and he just looked at me and said 'I want to go the Masters,'" the
teenager's Mum Jennifer Couch told CNN of her golf-mad son's desire to
visit Augusta, home to the first major of the year.
"He's kind and thoughtful and, he is someone who is respectful. He is such a great kid. We're very proud of him."
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"I have a brain tumor which is
inoperable," explained 13-year-old Ethan as he talked about his
condition tectal glioma. "So, it's clogging the spinal fluids, so in
2013 they went and made a new hole for the spinal fluid to drain."
PGA
tour pro Kevin Streelman knows what's it like to have a child with
health difficulties -- his baby daughter has spent time in intensive
care -- and the golfer was put in touch with the Couch family through
the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Ethan
was at home when he got the call from Streelman, who said he was taking
him to the Masters and that he wanted Ethan to caddy for him at
Augusta's Par 3 competition.
"I felt like I was going to
pass out. It was awesome. It's like, not even a once in a lifetime
opportunity. No-one gets to do that. It's super cool," said Ethan.
"He
said on the first hole that he wanted to win for me. There's a jinx,
apparently, that no-one's ever won the Par 3 and the Masters in the same
year. But he said he didn't worry about it, he said he could win them
both."
Streelman was true to his word.
With
Ethan by his side, the golfer beat Rory McIlroy and his caddy Niall
Horan of One Direction fame, Tiger Woods and his kids, and the great
Jack Nicklaus who scored his first ever hole-in-one at the Masters.
"There
are some things that are more important than golf... Spending the day
with him means even more than winning the green jacket," Streelman told
CNN.
When asked what he would say to
kids his own age about his dream come true, Ethan replied, "If they
believe in themselves then they can do whatever they want."
The
Couch family will be heading back home to Canada with memories for a
lifetime, his mum adding, "We're just happy that this happened for him.
We're very proud of him."
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