While many teenage boys dream of leading a football team, 15-year-old Raul instead has visions of commanding a drum corps on the gridiron.

He even has an idol: Scott Johnson, percussion director of the prestigious Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps, based in Concord, Calif. When Raul was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Orange County and the Inland Empire asked to grant his one true wish. Meeting Johnson was high on his list, but he instead asked the Foundation to replace his high school marching band's aging percussion equipment.

Wish granter Jim Reed knew he was looking at a tall order. So he asked Raul what he'd choose just in case he couldn't deliver on the drums. That’s when Raul mentioned his wish to meet Johnson.

Reed, however, did deliver on the drums. And who better to help Raul pick drums for his school than Johnson? Raul was at his favorite music store, testing out gear for his band, when Johnson suddenly appeared. Johnson, who travels around the world teaching percussion, flew in to meet Raul, give him a lesson and enjoy lunch with his family.

Thanks to Raul's selfless wish, his school band is now enjoying three sets each of Pearl tenor, snare and bass drums. Raul also received an extra surprise: his own drum set.

"It was the first time I had ever done anything like that," Johnson told the Concord Transcript.

Johnson wasn’t done making Raul’s wish experience an incredible day. He knew that Raul had never seen the Blue Devils in person, and that he’d only been able to follow the band thanks to the Internet. So Johnson invited him to a performance in Riverside, Calif., and included a staff pass so that he and Raul could visit again before the show.

For Make-A-Wish® volunteer Reed, Raul’s wish was special not just because of Johnson’s delight in helping, but because Raul thought of his school and classmates first.

“I’ve been doing this for five years, but this was the first child who said he didn’t want any wishes for himself,” he said.