It’s not every day a huge lamp with a genie inside blocks your driveway.

But late Thursday afternoon, there it was.

Oak Lawn’s Angel Santiago was being driven home by a friend and the lamp, genie and a handful of people from the Nik’s Wish organization were on hand to surprise him with a trip to Hawaii and other treasures.

Santiago, 19, was puzzled as the car got closer to the unusual activity in the driveway.

“I actually told my friend to keep driving,” Santiago said. “I didn’t know what this was.”

But his pal didn’t listen, and Santiago said he was surprised and shocked when Nik’s Wish Founder Kelli Ritschel told him he and his family were going to Hawaii.

He also picked up autographed goodies from the Chicago Fire and tickets to a game in 2025.

Santiago, a student-athlete who has dreams of playing soccer at the Division I level in college, is trying to put things together after he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2023, his senior year at Oak Lawn High School.

That was taken care of and he was able to play a handful of games at Moraine Valley Community College.

But it was later discovered the cancer had spread, and he started chemotherapy treatments in February.

After nine cycles, he was declared cancer free in August.

Santiago is still playing soccer locally and hopes to return to the Moraine Valley team with hopes of someday grabbing the attention of Division I college recruiters.

He has traveled the country playing club soccer but always wanted to go to Hawaii and his mother, Anaiz Diaz, secretly contacted Nik’s Wish to try to make it happen.

“It’s a pretty nice place,” Santiago said. “I’ve seen pictures of it. I know people have been there. It’s a very beautiful place.”

Santiago is hopeful the cancer is gone for good and tried to remain upbeat throughout the harrowing process the past couple of years.

“I’ve been pretty positive,” he said. “I’ve been there for my family the whole time through the whole process. They gave me a reason to be positive.”

Diaz said Santiago will have to be tested for the next five years to make sure the cancer does not return.

“Since August, he is trying to get back to normal,” Diaz said. “He’s looking to go back to college in January and hopefully he can pay DI soccer somewhere.

“But he still has a long way to go. He has to get back in shape. He’s slowly coming back.”

Nik’s Wish is a part of the Nikolas Ritschel Foundation, a group that grants wishes to young adults between the ages of 18-24 who are battling cancer.

Nikolas Ritschel, of Rockford, died of cancer at age 18 in 2012, but the night before he died, he requested there be a way for people over 18 to have their wishes granted.

“One thing in a tornado of absolutely terrible things that happened was that when he discovered that kids 18 and over don’t qualify for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and it broke his heart,” Ritschel’s mother, Kelli, said. “Before cancer took his life, he asked me if I could do something.

“This crazy group of people are here to bring joy and to bring happiness to families who are going trough a terrible and hard battle of cancer.”

Kelli said her team has granted more than 370 wishes to families in 38 states over the years. She said that with wishes stopping at age 18 there is a gap that her foundation is filling.

She said showing up and presenting someone with their wish is rewarding.

“We love this because this is a very hard and very sad time in people’s lives, and we are able to deliver this news to make them feel good,” she said. “I know that Nik is looking down and saying, ‘thank you, Mom.’ He’s encouraging me and I hope we can continue to do it.”

Santiago was happy with his surprise, but he was also stunned. Kelli said you never know what kind of reaction a recipient will give.

“Everyone is a little bit different,” she said. “It’s usually extreme surprise. People cry. We had people jump up and down and yowl. You never know what the reaction will be.

“That’s half the fun of it.”

Jeff Vorva is a freelancer.