T.J. Lopez was just 8 months old when doctors discovered that he had heart disease. He's had two open heart surgeries. One when he was 2 and the next one when he was 7. Life on the playground is at times challenging for T.J. but in the classroom he excels.

T.J's dad Jay Lopez says, "It just blows you away to see a guy that can go through that and just push on you know. A lot of people they give up rather easy and he's been our strength is really what he's been."

T.J. has a pretty good idea about why he's stayed so strong, "Just maybe believing in myself, that's about it, saying that I can do it."

I was big sister Shanel that got the ball rolling. She decided she wanted to sign T.J. up for Make-A-Wish so she went to the website and got her little brother registered.

The next thing you know, 16-year-old Shanel got to tell her brother that he'd been granted a Make-A-Wish trip to Disney World, "It was indescribable. I was so happy that he was happy and I started crying just because he was so happy." T.J. couldn't believe it, "I was really happy and I was really happy that she did that all of this wouldn't have happened unless she did that."

T.J. Has been a Disney fan for a long time, "Ever since I was a little baby I really enjoyed Toy Story that was my favorite movie but as I got older I watched a lot of the princess movies, no, I'm not ashamed of that."

Thanks to Make-A-Wish, T.J. got to experience the Disney magic up close and personal at Disney World in Orlando, "Oh, it was amaaazzzzing. It was the best 6 days of my life!"

It was January 12th when Make-A-Wish provided T.J. with his first limo ride and his first plane ride on his 10th birthday. His mom says, "I honestly couldn't thank them enough, I can't express how I feel about Make-A-Wish and how much joy they gave our family, just this one experience. We talk about it still this day like it was last night."

T.J.'s heartfelt thanks go out to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, "I think it was awesome. I really enjoyed it and I really hope that they enjoyed it to seeing me and stuff so I really want to thank them and say I love you guys!?

There are more than 400 Make-A-Wish volunteers in the state of Nebraska. If you'd like to join the group, call 1-800-760-WISH or log onto nebraska.wish.org

Coming up on Thursday, Lance introduces us to a Grand Island girl that was granted a new play structure.