“I wanted to learn about volcanoes and then teach other people about them so they can learn too,” he tells PEOPLE. “I saw the volcano overflowing.”<\/p>\n
Trey turned out to be adept at another sort of activity, too: first-time snorkeling<\/p>\n
“He was the only one that could actually do it,” mom Kaitee Robertson, 45, tells PEOPLE. “The rest of us felt like we were drowning. He was perfectly fine.”<\/p>\n
That was not out of the ordinary for her son, she says.<\/p>\n
“He’s never the loudest, he’s never the one who’s going to be crazy,” Robertson, a regional sales manager, says. “People flock to him because he has that quiet kindness about him.”<\/p>\n
![\"From](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/people_218\/53c294c611ee39a5402ad84b9c558903.jpg\"\/)
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From back to front: siblings Joey Lydinger, Tailaysha, Tristan, Trey and Aujanae Robertson in Hawaii in September
Credit: Make A Wish<\/p>\n
Trey has long struggled with sickle cell disease, a blood disorder that can cause anemia, infections, pain and other serious complications. But, he tells PEOPLE in an interview, he has tried not to let that slow him down \u2014 and he encourages others to do the same.<\/p>\n
Sure, he admits, “I’m kind of sad that I have it.” Then he quickly offers this advice to anyone worried about being limited by their health: “They can try new things that they haven’t tried.”<\/p>\n
Trey was joined in Hawaii by his siblings \u2014 sisters Tailaysha, 17, and Aujanae, 9, and brother Tristan, 11 \u2014 whom Robertson adopted; she also has a biological son, 17-year-old Joey, who went with them only eldest Brayden, 24, couldn’t be there because he’s in college.<\/p>\n
When Trey was adopted in 2022, at age 6, he was already diagnosed with sickle cell.<\/p>\n
“There was a learning curve,” says Robertson, who has a Joe Lydinger, whom the kids call Dad. “I went down a wormhole spiral of figuring things out and making sure we were doing the right things.”<\/p>\n
![\"Trey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/people_218\/26fe44d1c231ac80b78ab9c8e7145fbe.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Trey Robertson (center) with his family
Credit: Make A Wish<\/p>\n
![\"Trey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/people_218\/c694790cb54af1554ff497ec4fca07df.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Trey Robertson gets to sit in the cockpit during his Make-A-Wish adventure in Hawaii
Credit: Make A Wish<\/p>\n
Strict maintenance allows Trey to have fewer crisis situations, which are physically painful and “puts him out for a long period of time,” his mom says.<\/p>\n
Because he gets fatigued fairly quickly, sports, she says, are “not his jam.” So they found other activities in which he can excel.<\/p>\n
He’s been active in musical theater since third grade and is set to play Lord Farquaad in his middle school production of Shrek.<\/p>\n
“He’s super smart, a bookworm who loves his books and can memorize a script like nobody’s business,” says Roberston. And he also has a love of geology.<\/p>\n
When it came time to choose which adventure he would take with Make-A-Wish, he had narrowed it down to seeing volcanoes in Hawaii or the aurora borealis in Alaska.<\/p>\n
Robertson says going north was not really an option, because cold triggers severe attacks. Hawaii was a perfect fit.<\/p>\n
“Make-A-Wish went over and above the bar. We stayed at a beautiful location with dolphins right on the site,” Robertson says. “Trey can’t swim unless the water’s above 80 degrees, and even the water in the ocean was about 80.”<\/p>\n
She says it was also “awesome to have us together as a nuclear family for that full week and experience all the magical things in Hawaii together.”<\/p>\n
![\"Trey](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/people_218\/525ca9c31f265cd25921869d15359f78.jpg\"\/)
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Trey Robertson (second from right) with his family in Hawaii
Credit: Make A Wish<\/p>\n
Dana Antkowiak, a Make-A-Wish coordinator, adds that the organization believes trips like Trey’s are their own sort of medicine: “It helps them feel stronger, more energetic and more hopeful for the future.”<\/p>\n
In the last fiscal year, Antkowiak says, they’ve granted 15,700 wishes.<\/p>\n
Going forward, Robertson hopes to get Trey into clinical trials for his disease, an avenue not open to them until he turned 12.<\/p>\n