. . Brittany Cooper is a cheerful and unpretentious 15-year-old with a wish as big as her generous smile. Since as long as Brittany could remember she wanted to learn how to scuba dive and explore the hazy depths of the waters around New York, her home state. Little did she know that when this wish would be granted it would be in the turquoise clear tropical waters of the Florida Keys.

. . Her odyssey began last September with the Make-a-Wish Foundation’s annual telethon in Buffalo, New York. Once a year a local disc jockey interviews children that have life threatening diseases. Each kid expresses their wish and the community responds to help make their wishes come true. Brittany called in and expressed how her dream was to become a certified scuba diver along with her family with whom she would like to share the experience.

. . Carole Bloomquist happened to be listening to the radio in the car at the same time Brittany was announcing her wish over the airwaves. This announcement struck a chord with Carole, as she was the manager of Point Breeze Dive Shop in Derby, New York. Carole immediately picked up her cell phone and called Tony Anderson, owner of the dive shop and said, "We have to do this!" Carole realized how much it meant to Brittany and that she could some how help to make her wish come true.

. . In January, Brittany and the rest of her family soon found themselves in a pool, geared up with full scuba gear and under the guidance of Carole and Tony. Once all the pool dives were completed they decided that there couldn't be a better place to do their open water dives then in the Florida Keys, so Carole got in touch with Bob Holston at Dive Key West to arrange for their open water dives on the reef at Sand Key. Carole, whose father is an investor with the Mel Fisher organization, wanted to make the trip even more special for Brittany and her family. Carole spoke with Mel Fisher's staff and a museum and conservation lab tour was set up with Kim Fisher. It was also decided that they could make this adventure even more memorable for Brittany by taking her out to dive the famed Atocha wrecksite with Mel Fisher’s "Golden Crew". Carole was ecstatic when the offer was made and couldn't wait to tell Brittany and the rest of the Cooper family.

. . With a fun-filled week planned for the Keys, the Coopers were jetted down from chilly New York. Once the family had completed their open water dives they journeyed over to the Mel Fisher museum to receive a narrated tour from Kim who informed them of his family's dream that took 16 years to make come true- the discovery of the Spanish galleon Atocha. Brittany was also presented with a proclamation from Kim on behalf of Keys Mayor Dixie Spehar, that granted her honorary Conch status, a wonderful way to be welcomed to the Conch Republic. Kim than mesmerized them by draping Brittany and her family in gold chains, and placing gold bars and discs in their laps along with a couple of million dollar emeralds. By the look in their eyes it was obvious that they were hooked on treasure. Now it was their turn to go out and hunt for it themselves.

. . The next day the family shipped out with Capt. Chuck Butler aboard the Sea-Clusion who generously volunteered his 46' Bertram to chauffeur the Coopers to the wrecksite. The day was perfect, calm seas, sunny and just a slight breeze. Once everyone caught sight of a small blue speck in the distance, the adrenaline kicked in, as everyone knew it was the salvage vessel, JB Magruder still pursuing the trail of the Atocha's elusive sterncastle. The Cooper's boarded the vessel with a hearty welcome from Capt. Andy Matroci and his crew. Eventually everyone partnered up and the treasure dives began. Brittany and her 13-year old brother Lewis were the first to take the giant stride into the calm waters in search of sunken treasure. Side-by-side with the Magruder divers, Brittany and Lewis had their eyes peeled for the glitter of gold or the sparkle of an emerald. As luck would have it, they were right next to diver Jeff Dickinson when his metal detector sang out as he pulled an encrusted silver coin from the sand berm. Brittany said later that because of the encrustation she didn't know what the coin was at first but soon realized from the excitement of the other divers, who quickly started hand fanning the sand, that is was something important. Welcome to the world of treasure hunting!

. . After their dive, Brittany's father, also named Lewis and sister Krisie took their plunge into history and although the family didn’t exactly leave with pockets full of gold, they did leave the site with once in a lifetime memories, new friends and an impressive collection of Atocha shells. Brittany said “Diving the Atocha site was far better than I had imagined and it exceeded all my expectations. The trip was awesome!” she said, while she and her family unloaded their gear at the dock back in Key West. Brittany is now looking forward to diving this summer in New York and was grateful to all that made her wish come true. Kim Fisher said that his famous Dad would be delighted to have participated in making Brittany's dream a reality, "After all," he said, "Dad was the original Dreamweaver."

Well, we can now say that Brittany is not only a certified open water diver, but also a certified treasure hunter. Congratulations Brittany!