MythBusters fulfill Vancouver boy’s wish

Matthew Bacon spent the better part of two weeks watching episodes of MythBusters in his room at Legacy Emmanuel Children’s Hospital last October. At the time, the 10-year-old was just diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The show helped keep his mind off his treatment.

This August, he got to meet the stars of the show during a Make-A-Wish trip to San Francisco.

Matt, now 11 and in remission, his mom, Christina; dad, Rob; and siblings Tyler, 9, Kylie, 7, and Ashlyn, 5, were swept off to San Francisco via limousine and airliner. While there, they stayed in a high-rise hotel, visited Chinatown, walked through Alcatraz, ate pizza with the MythBusters and toured the warehouse where their show is filmed.

The latter was definitely the highlight for Matt. He loves the science, explosions and jokes that are peppered throughout the Discovery Channel show that aims to bust or confirm urban legends and things seen in movies.

His favorite part of the tour was three white boards that were used as storyboards to break down upcoming episodes of the show. The boards outlined everything about the shows including filming locations, parts to buy, calls they would have to make and permits they would have to get, the family said.

“It’s amazing what they do with the space they have,” Rob Bacon said. The warehouse looks huge on TV, but in reality is like a rented space at a storage facility. It’s full of labeled boxes with trinkets, tools and science props from the show’s numerous seasons, he said.

The Bacon clan, now back from the vacation, is settling into the new routine for this school year.

Matt missed 56 days of school last year as he went through eight months of chemotherapy. This year, he will attend Jason Lee Middle School and participate in the Challenge program.

Paul Suarez: 360-735-4530 or paul.suarez@columbian.com.