Make-A-Wish Tri-Counties recently granted Santa Paula High School freshman Keshaun Mata his wish to meet Oklahoma City Thunder basketball player Kevin Durant.

Keshaun Mata has returned
from Make-A-Wish-sponsored trip

April 16, 2014
Santa Paula News

Make-A-Wish Tri-Counties recently granted Santa Paula High School freshman Keshaun Mata his wish to meet Oklahoma City Thunder basketball player Kevin Durant.

 Keshaun, along with several family members were flown to Oklahoma City, where they got to see the Thunder warm up and after the game Keshaun and two other Make-A-Wish young people had a chance to meet Durant and Russell Westbrook. They posed for pictures and signed autographs for the trio. “The next day we got to go bowling for Westbrook’s charity,” he said. “It was fun.” Keshaun said the trip was a good experience. As for how he enjoyed meeting the two players he said, “Kevin Durant is very tall and they’re both nice guys.”

Keshaun’s mother Tina, who also went on the trip said, “It was amazing.” She noted that they met two great families.

Keshaun said he found out about the trip about a month prior. He said he chose Oklahoma because he’s a big fan of the Thunder and, “I wanted to watch them play over there. I’d already watched them play in Los Angeles.” Along with his mother, he was accompanied by his sister Clarissa, 19 and his younger brother Dante, 11.

Keshaun is an all-around athlete. He was quarterback for the SPHS JV football team last season, something he hopes to continue in the fall. He also plays basketball and baseball. After high school he hopes to attend either Cal Poly or Northern Arizona University, where he would major in criminal justice and eventually become a police officer.

Tina said her sister in Virginia nominated Keshaun, sending the paperwork to Make-A-Wish here. Keshaun had a foot amputated at age 5 because of cancer. He was in remission for several years but suffered a relapse at age 12. He has now been cancer free for six months. 

Founded in 1985, Make-A-Wish Tri-Counties has granted the wishes of more than 1,200 local children in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties on the central coast of California.





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