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North Dakota teen gets wish to work with sea turtles at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center

Posted at 4:40 PM, Aug 02, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-02 16:40:06-04

Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton is all about giving people a coastal experience. And one teenager actually got to spend time today fulfilling one of her dreams.

17-year-old Mya Lambert is from North Dakota and she's always dreamed of working with baby sea turtles.

She is also unfortunately battling Hodgkin's lymphoma - so the Make-a-Wish Foundation helped her out.

Mya is going to spend the next couple of days searching for sea turtle nests, releasing hatchlings, and will feed and care for the sea turtles at the nature center.

It's a great experience she could never have living in the Plains. She says that experiencing the beach has been amazing, and she's always dreamed of having a career caring for animals.

The Make-a-Wish Foundation has granted more than 11,000 wishes in the past 34 years. For Mya Gumbo Limbo was a great place to check out the sea turtles.

The nature center monitors more than 800 nests, and releases 9,000 turtle hatchlings each season.

Mya will help out the scientists at Gumbo Limbo until Sunday.