Faith's wish...
“I wish to go on a Disney theatre trip to see The Lion King”
15 years old, Elgin
Acute and chronic leukaemia (with chemotherapy)
Wish stories
Thanks to the incredible support from Disney we were able to grant Faith’s wish to go to London with her family and watch The Lion King stage show. She was completely blown away, and even got to go backstage to gain valuable future career advice from the cast.
Faith's story
Faith had been experiencing distressing symptoms for several weeks: severe nosebleeds, dizziness, feeling sick, fatigue and bruising easily with no clear explanation as to why. Every time the family spoke to a doctor, they simply put it down to the fact she was anaemic but Lori, her mum, pushed for answers.
In April 2022, the family were finally able to understand what was going on. Faith’s blood tests showed that her symptoms were in fact due to acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), life-altering news that no teenager should ever have to hear. Following the diagnosis, Faith was immediately admitted to hospital for six and a half weeks to begin chemotherapy.
“It was so intense,” recalled Lori. “Faith went from chirpy to down and depressed. She had bad insomnia, so she was only getting about four hours of sleep a night and lost a lot of weight.”
Once Faith was allowed to return home, she was frustrated at not being able to continue with her normal day-to-day life. “At the time, she was halfway through primary seven and due to go to high school. She missed a lot of the induction and couldn’t attend full-time. When she did go in, she was in her wheelchair and wigs and although no one was ever mean to her, she knew she stood out for the wrong reasons.”
Faith has fortunately been in remission since September 2024 and has been steadily rebuilding her childhood, slowly gaining back a sense of normality. She has made a good group of friends and attends a theatre group regularly, as well as holding down a part-time job.
Faith's wish
The family was introduced to Make-A-Wish by Faith’s social worker at referral partner Young Lives vs Cancer.
Given her love of theatre and future ambitions to perform on stage professionally, Faith chose a trip to London to watch The Lion King live as her wish. She was especially excited to pick the brains of the performers post-show. “She was thinking about what kind of questions she could ask. She asked me if she could go to school in London or Juilliard!” laughed mum.
On the day, Faith watched the performance with the biggest smile on her face, taking everything in, and was ecstatic to meet the performers backstage who gave her some personal tips for her future career in musical theatre. The family also enjoyed the opportunity to experience London, wandering around Covent Garden, finally able to relax and look towards the future.
The impact of Faith's wish
Keen to give other families the opportunity they had, Faith and Lori are planning a fundraiser next April to raise funds for Make-A-Wish – keep your eyes peeled for further details!
"Keep doing what you’re doing. Make-A-Wish takes the burden off the family, as all expenses are paid and you don’t have to worry about logistics. This is an experience we never would have had otherwise and it’s really important to be able to give that to other families."
We rely on generous donations from people like you to grant wishes. Your donation will make wishes become a reality for critically ill children, supporting them where the need is greatest. Thank you.