The Dream Team: Southwest Airlines and One Man’s Football Fantasy

[cfrance]

This guest post from Christian France originally appeared in the May 2015 edition of Southwest: The Magazine.  January 18, 1976: the day the Dallas Cowboys faced the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl X. I was 5 years old, and with 50 cents in hand I told my dad, “I’ll take the guys with the stars, and you take the guys with the diamonds!” I lost my first bet but gained a lifelong loyalty. Within a few years, I had a collection of Cowboys attire ranging from sweatshirts and jackets to Tony Dorsett pajamas. On Friday nights, whenever I heard the introductory music to the TV show Dallas, I raced to the screen for the one moment when the camera would pan over Texas Stadium. Someday, I told myself, I’ll see the Dallas Cowboys play in their home stadium. More than 30 years later, my dream was no closer to reality, and I was no longer a healthy, carefree child. I was a wheelchair-bound adult fighting a losing battle with muscular dystrophy. I’d nearly abandoned my idea when I learned of Dream Foundation, a nonprofit that grants the wishes of adults with life-threatening illnesses.

Thanks to Dream Foundation and Southwest Airlines, Christian was able to visit the home of the Dallas Cowboys.

  Weeks after I applied, I was selected! I was ecstatic but knew traveling from California to Texas would be no easy task. But Dream Foundation assured me it was possible, in part due to its Partner in Dreams, Southwest Airlines. In addition to providing a roundtrip fare, the airline transported my 200-pound wheelchair. In Dallas, I received transportation and disabled access accommodations, as well as front-row seats at the 40-yard line. The best part of the day was meeting Tony Dorsett. As a kid, I owned pajamas with his face on them, and now here he was, kneeling next to me so we could talk and take pictures. It was a moment I will never forget. Thank you, Southwest Airlines and Dream Foundation, for making my dream come true!