AL Teen’s Dream Of Becoming A Mermaid Came True At Weeki Wachee

SPRING HILL, FL — For just a few days this summer, 16-year-old Sophie McCleney and her family, for once, didn't have to worry solely about doctors, hospital visits, medical tests, or the ongoing unanswered questions surrounding the teen's health.

Instead, she got to be a mermaid.

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Sophie, who lives with her parents and three siblings, just outside Birmingham, Alabama, traveled to Florida earlier this month for a special experience organized by Make-A-Wish Southern Florida at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, where her longtime love of mermaids became reality.

Her wish brought her to one of Florida's most iconic roadside attractions, where she received a mermaid makeover, complete with glitter, jewelry, and a mermaid tail, before swimming in the spring with the park's resident live mermaids.

For her mother, Chancey McCleney, watching her daughter experience the day was especially meaningful after years of seeing Sophie battle a progressive and still-undiagnosed neurological condition.

"She just radiates joy, and it was beautiful to see," Chancey told Patch.

Sophie was born following "a normal pregnancy," but developed a high fever and was diagnosed with aseptic meningitis when she was about a week old, her mother said.

As an infant, she spent nearly a month in the hospital and experienced her first seizures.

At 18 months, she was diagnosed with a mild form of cerebral palsy and later with an intellectual disability and a seizure disorder.

For years, however, Sophie remained energetic and active. Her mother described her as an "energizer bunny" who loved running, climbing and being in the water.

That began to change when Sophie was about 12.

During a family trip to Disney World, the child known for always being on the move suddenly became exhausted and had difficulty walking. Her family initially attributed her knee pain and mobility problems to her gait and a growth spurt.

But over time, her symptoms became more serious, Chancey said.

Sophie began experiencing severe pain, muscle spasms, headaches and increasing difficulty with mobility. She eventually began using a wheelchair for longer distances.

Her mother also noticed something else: Sophie was forgetting things she had always remembered easily.

After her parents pushed for additional testing, doctors discovered that Sophie was experiencing brain volume loss. Subsequent testing, including multiple rounds of genetic testing and a muscle biopsy, has yet to determine the cause, her mother said.

Sophie was hospitalized five times in 2025. At one point, her family traveled to Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for two weeks of testing and consultations with specialists.

Still, there were no definitive answers.

By early 2026, Sophie was no longer able to attend school in person. She transitioned to homebound instruction, and Chancey left her job as an insurance agent to become her daughter's full-time caregiver.

Through it all, Sophie has remained remarkably joyful, her mother said. "She's just a great human as a whole."

That spirit is part of what made her wish feel so important.

A medical caseworker nominated Sophie for Make-A-Wish, and when the organization asked what she wanted to do, the answer came easily: She wanted to be a mermaid and swim with mermaids.

Sophie has loved mermaids since she was a little girl. Her mother said her daughters grew up playing as mermaids, inspired in part by Disney's Ariel and the Australian television series "H2O: Just Add Water."

The teen has also always loved playing in water.

"She would just take to the water," Chancey said. "She was just obsessed with the water."

She's grateful that Make-A-Wish Southern Florida helped turn her daughter's longtime dream into a reality.

Richard Kelly, chief operating officer for the organization, said the nonprofit expects to grant roughly 550 wishes this year for children who live or are treated in its territory, along with about 300 additional wishes for children who travel to Florida from elsewhere, such as Sophie.

Her wish was particularly Florida-specific, as she wanted to become a mermaid for a day.

The organization coordinated with Weeki Wachee staff to create a day tailored to Sophie's dream, Kelly said.

She received her mermaid makeover before heading into the spring, where she met several mermaids and a prince. She was given a tail of her own and raced the mermaids through the water.

Her older sister, Gracie, 21, even got the chance to put on a mermaid tail and swim with her.

"All my girls are mermaid obsessed," Chancey said.

The family stayed in Clearwater during their trip, and also spent time at the beach and visited Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where Sophie was particularly fascinated by the story of Winter, the late dolphin known for her prosthetic tail.

For a teenager who relies on AFO braces and sometimes a wheelchair, seeing an animal that had adapted to its own physical challenges was especially meaningful, her mother said.

But perhaps the most important part of the trip had nothing to do with mermaids; it was simply having time together, Chancey said.

The family, which rarely takes vacations, was able to travel and enjoy meals together, and had a chance to step away from the appointments and uncertainty that have become part of their everyday lives.

Make-A-Wish gave the family an opportunity to "connect as a family and kind of take away the weight of what we deal with on the daily," Chancey said.

Kelly said wishes can have an impact that lasts long after the experience ends. He pointed to published medical research suggesting they can support children's emotional and spiritual well-being while giving families a chance to reconnect during some of the most difficult periods of their lives.

Following their trip, while the future remains uncertain for Sophie, there's a lot to be excited about, her mother said.

Though her doctors still don't know what is causing the progression of her condition, her family is scheduled to return to Mayo Clinic later this month for another round of testing.

Sophie has also been accepted into Mayo's Rare and Undiagnosed Disease Hackathon, a research program bringing together doctors and scientists to study difficult-to-diagnose conditions.

Her family hopes the research eventually provides an answer — not only for Sophie, but potentially for other families facing similarly unexplained illnesses.

In the meantime, though, Sophie's souvenirs from Weeki Wachee bring her comfort and joy: a mermaid tail, a mermaid doll, a stuffed dolphin and a stuffed octopus.

The doll and plushies live in her room, Chancey said. "They proudly sit on her bed. They're her bed buddies.

And her mermaid gear is often put to good use, her mother added. "Now she gets to play mermaids all the time."