Serenity

10 years old, Pulmonary Stenosis, Patent Ductus Arteriosis

I wish for my first ever birthday party!

When it came to choosing her one true wish Serenity chose to have a birthday party for her 10th birthday surrounded by her friends and family, 14 children, 14 adults. Having never had a birthday party in her life before, this was a very exciting day.

Surrounded by all those she loved at The Hot Chick restaurant, they delighted themselves with hot chicken, ice creams from the Cool Cat and a traffic light jelly made by our lovely volunteer Claire.

The children had an amazing time on the Bumber Balls kindly supplied by Hawkes Bay Bumper Ball, a bouncy castle from The Madd Fun Company, and face painting by the lovely Jakki at FabArt and a pinata to top it all off.

A big thank you to Utopia Cakes for the kindly donated 3D My Little Pony – Fluttershy cake and Kaylene at Lupin Photography for the incredible photos that captured Serenity’s one true wish!

After Serenity’s wish we received a text from her mum saying – ‘thank you so much again, my girl was so so happy :) :) :)’

Danielle

7 years, Liver transplant

I wish to have a Bunny Rabbit called Fluffy Bum

When the wish fairies visited an excited Danielle, they knew her wish would be wonderfully delightful, her very own bunny rabbit. Her wish had to include, a two storeyed hutch with ladder and tunnel, green and red accessories as well as a bunny party to welcome her new best friend to the family!

The wish fairies searched high and low to find Danielle the perfect bunny best friend and matching accessories. Once ‘’Fluffy Bum’’ had been chosen and his hutch had been assembled, the wish fairies returned to Danielle’s home to deliver her wish.

Fluffy Bum and Danielle instantly bonded, both hopping around the back yard in joy, and of course, once Fluffy Bum had settled into his new home, it was time for his “Welcome to the Family” bunny party! Friends joined Danielle and Fluffy Bum to celebrate with all sorts of bunny themed games – The Bunny Sack Race, Pin the Tail on the Bunny, and of course, loads of bunny themed treats!

After having her Liver transplant, Danielle is now able to care for Fluffy Bum. Spending more and more time outdoors with her best friend and learning all the different ways to take care of Fluffy Bum, Danielle’s wish has impacted not only her, but her entire family, including Jack, the family cat, who now has a very suspicious watchful eye over him at all times!

Lachlan

8 years old, Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy

I wish for a Lego-themed bedroom makeover

8-year-old Lachlan has a huge passion for Lego, so it was no surprise to find out that his one true wish was for a Lego themed bedroom makeover. Lachlan wished for a special place he could go, to construct Lego models to his heart’s content.

During the wish design process, we reached out to Mico Plumbing & Bathrooms Limited, one of our Fundraising Partners, to see if they could help with the creation of Lachlan’s bedroom. Surely enough, Mico put us in touch with Capital Homes and Cutting Edge Cabinetry, who custom built and installed Lachlan’s entire bedroom! A crucial part for the planning of Lachlan’s bedroom was to ensure he could continue to enjoy and use it in years to come.

On the day of the wish delivery, Lachlan’s bedroom reveal went off without a hitch and was incredibly special! It was all hands on deck to get the bedroom ready for Lachlan’s arrival.

When Lachlan arrived home, he was very excited and didn’t know what to expect. After a short chat on the driveway, Lachlan couldn’t wait to go inside and see his new bedroom. He cut the ribbon and opened his door and let out a very loud ‘’Wooooahhhh!’’ He started exploring straight away, looking in the cubby holes, going up top to play, jumping on his bed and opening his Lego presents. The massive smile on his face said it all. He said he would be in his bedroom playing all weekend!

Alex

8 Years old, Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy

I wish for a spa pool

Alex is an energetic young boy who is living with Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy. Due to his condition he often finds himself lacking energy and finds great relief in his favourite activity. Swimming has great therapeutic principles for Alex’s muscles and comes as no surprise that Alex’s one true wish is for a spa pool.

As soon as we heard about Alex’s wish, we got chatting to our good friends at Trueform Spa pools who instantly got on board. We let them know that Alex’s 8th birthday was coming up and they fast-tracked and personalised Alex’s new spa pool, ready for a very special surprise on his big day!

Alex spends every day in the spa pool and has even been so kind as to allow his family to join him (upon request of course!). Alex is an avid reader and has enjoyed hours and hours of reading in the spa with his awesome AquaReader book caddy.

“His smile every time he gets in, is priceless and fills all of us with happiness. His muscles love the time to rest and soak which makes him less sore and it relaxes him for better sleep and moods. It really has been an incredible addition to his and our lives. This is an activity we can all do together without any physical limitations and have great family chats and laughs together” – Erin Webb, Alex’s Mum.

Frankie

3 years old, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia

I wish for a Dolls House

Frankie’s one true wish was for her very own Dolls House. She loved the idea of her dollies having their own place to live and putting the furniture into the house. To further enhance her wish experience, Frankie was invited to attend the National Doll House building convention as a VIP guest, which was held in Palmerston North.

On the day of her wish, our wish volunteers had the pleasure of watching the excitement, shyness, but ultimately the joy of seeing little Frankie falling in love with her gorgeous dolls house and the complete absorption in unwrapping all the components and furnishings that went with it, complete with a family dog for a pet!

Frankie enjoyed her specially made pretty pink cupcakes, accompanied by strawberries and grapes which were all well received by both sets of grandparents present for the occasion, as well as aunties, her little brother and mum and dad. She needed a big refuel after all the excitement!

This wish delivery was particularly poignant as Frankie had to go to hospital that coming week for an operation, so had the anticipation of coming home to her lovely wish, which helped carry her through.

Our First Wish

In 1986 New Zealand's first wish was granted

To a 4-year-old Daniel who had leukaemia. His wish was to have Christmas in October. Santa and his elves arrived on a fire engine with a sack full of gifts. Daniel was also given a ride on the fire engine.

The magic of fulfilling Daniel's wish created memories of an unforgettable day for his family. The volunteers and all those involved in creating the wish were touched by their experience - and Make-A-Wish New Zealand was underway! Since then, approximately 2000 wishes have been granted in all corners of the country. Every wish is unique to the child - our volunteer "Wish Granters" meet with them in their homes or hospital to chat and find out what that one true wish will be.