Dr. Gregory Taylor is doing more than saving lives; he’s granting wishes.
The Fishers resident is a board-certified emergency medicine physician at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, as well as Riverview Hospital in Fishers/Carmel with Cross Country Locums and TeamHealth. Beyond the hospital, Taylor serves in the United States Air Force stationed at Grissom Air Reserve Base, and functions as a flight surgeon and emergency medical service/fire department medical director.
And he’s making dreams come true.
Physicians for Wishes has been a long time coming for Taylor. His mother was diagnosed with multiple myeloma when he was still in training. A family surprised him with a weekend getaway to Great Wolf Lodge. During that time frame, he saw his mother smile again, laugh again, and for a brief moment in time, she forgot she had cancer. Her passing in 2008 planted the seed for Taylor to start giving back.
Fast-forward to October of 2022, when close friends of Taylor found out their daughter was diagnosed with a terminal illness.
“We made the decision as a family to take them to Disney World,” he says. “For seven days we did all the parks and all the character dining experiences we could find. The amount of smiles and laughter is just something you don’t forget and something the family will never forget. If I could do that for this family, I could do it for others.”
When Taylor decided he was in a financial position to take the next step and make wishes come true for more families, he started a YouTube channel, Physicians for Wishes, in the summer of 2023.
“The first wish I granted was almost a year ago for a 20-year-old with glioblastoma, a highly aggressive brain tumor,” Taylor says. “He was in hospice, but the family’s wish was to see him smile again. I was able to get a list of all the things he loved: Lake Michigan, bonfires, s’mores, barbecue, hot tubs, and Mountain Dew Baja Blast. I was able to give him and his family an incredible four-day Lake Michigan vacation. It was my first wish for the YouTube channel and is truly heartwarming.”
Devin Loudy would pass away a few months later, but his family will always remember his last vacation, and seeing him smile and laugh again.
Taylor’s second and most recent wish, granted via the Physicians for Wishes YouTube channel, was for Jeremy Maines, a cancer patient who thrives on adrenaline rushes. The video, featured on Fox59 news, features Jeremy telling his cancer story and driving a NASCAR race car around the Michigan International Speedway, followed by one more activity – jumping out of an airplane.
“This video and wish will truly warm your heart and is the reason I do this; he said that experience was the coolest thing that has ever happened to him,” Taylor says.
Physicians for Wishes needs community and corporate support to continue granting wishes for terminally ill patients hoping to experience a few of their favorite things or activities while they fight against time.
“What I did not realize when I started this channel was how difficult it was going to be to get support and wish nominations,” he says. “ For that reason, I made the decision to do community give-back videos, to raise awareness for the channel and hopefully get subscribers and support. Some of those include donating Christmas presents to an entire elementary school in need, and providing over $20,000 worth of Valentine’s Day toys/baskets/supplies to every cat and every dog at an animal shelter.”
The biggest step the community can take is to visit the YouTube channel (@Physicians_for_Wishes) and subscribe, and also donate. The goal with the channel is for the videos to fund themselves with viewer donations via subscriptions. Taylor currently funds the wishes himself, supplemented with a few individuals who want to be part of something truly life-changing.
“Without someone doing for us what I am doing for others, my mother would not have smiled again, laughed again, and for a brief period of time would not have forgotten about her cancer fight,” he says. “Most of the donations I’ve received so far have come from outside of the Fishers/Carmel area. I have hope that more people in this area will want to be part of giving back and granting wishes for cancer patients.”
Looking ahead, Taylor also wants to give back during the holiday season. He would like to be able to provide presents to all three elementary schools in Winchester, Indiana, a town hit hard by a tornado in the spring of this year. By doing so, he would be providing over 800 gifts to children and families in need.
However, continuing to grant wishes for those in need at this level requires donors and sponsors. Taylor notes that the YouTube channel is growing one step at a time and making progress – but he needs help.
