Through six years of deep and personal friendship, Portsmouth resident Colin Wright and California resident Adrian Guzman had never met. That changed last week.

Colin, 18, met his longtime, online gaming friend, Adrian, 22, thanks to the generosity of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The two first connected almost six years ago through the popular online game “League of Legends.”

That was four years before Colin was diagnosed with cancer, in January of 2016.

According to Adrian, “at first it was a little weird. We were just playing games and we would join each other when we both had nothing to do. Then after about a week, we would talk or play a game all the time and got really close.”
Colin said Adrian, “is a closer friend to me than some of my high school friends are.”

Since then, they have continued their friendship, which became a major part of the support system for Colin while going through cancer treatments.
In the beginning of 2016, Colin was only 16 and suffering from random sharp pains and sometimes complete lack of mobility. It was later diagnosed at Hasbro Children’s Hospital that he has Osteosarcoma, which is a cancer within bone marrow.

Colin and his family immediately began chemotherapy and proceeded to have five different surgeries on his leg and lungs to remove cancerous tumors. He is grateful today to be mobile and enjoying his life and summertime in Rhode Island, as he and his family go fishing and crabbing at the beach.

After ending his treatment more than 18 months ago, Colin decided that he was not interested in using his ‘Wish’ to go on a typical vacation. He wanted to do something for Adrian instead, to thank him for all he had done to help him when Colin was undergoing chemo treatment and numerous surgeries. So the Make-A-Wish Foundation decided to bring Adrian here.
Adrian is from Lancaster, Calif., and before this trip he had never been on a plane. According to Make-A-Wish

representative Jordan Salvatoriello, he has lost family members to cancer and just recently lost his aunt only a few months after her diagnosis. The boys plan to continue being the good friends that they are, and Colin hopes Adrian will enjoy New England and Rhode Island while he is here.

During his trip to Rhode Island, the two friends will go to Six Flags, the Mystic Aquarium, and to museums in Boston.