Anyone might be daunted by jumping from a helicopter into churning ocean waters – especially anyone who’s acquainted with unpredictable health and the fragility of life.

But it didn’t faze Jaeda.

Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at birth, 18-year-old Jaeda is still trying to figure out what she wants to be when she grows up. For awhile, she’d settled on being an astronaut. But thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation^® and the U.S. Coast Guard, those plans may be changing.

In June 2009, Jaeda’s wish to be a Coast Guard rescue swimmer came true at the USCG Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Alabama. During the two days she spent with seasoned rescue swimmers, Jaeda trained at the controls of a helicopter flight simulator and practiced rescue techniques in full Coast Guard gear.

But the highlight of her experience came when she flew out in a helicopter for an actual rescue-swimmer training mission. “It’s just so exciting – jumping out of a helicopter,” Jaeda said. “We had practiced being hooked up to the harness in the hangar earlier in the day, but I never could have imagined how exhilarating it actually was to be lowered out of a helicopter into the ocean.”

To top off an amazing wish experience, the Coast Guard presented Jaeda with her own flight suit, a personalized name badge and rescue-swimmer gear. She even received an official title: Honorary Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer. “Maybe after I get my degree I’ll go into the Coast Guard to be a pilot,” she said after the wish. “This really has opened a lot of doors for me.”