Jen’s unique and special Wish Journey!
Wishes are more than just a one-off experience – they’re a journey.
Each Wish Journey brings magic and joy back into the life of a very sick child.
We’re going to bring you along for each stage of Jen’s Wish Journey starting with Wish Capture.
Six-year-old Jen was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Her mum Helen says this was the hardest time of their life. “Jen wasn’t taking it good. She was upset. Our family was upset as well. We were trying to get used to the fact that she had cancer.”
Chemotherapy treatments were gruelling and brutal for Jen. “Jen became a different person from before she started her journey,” Helen explains. “She was more tired, and she didn’t want to play as much.”
Wishes are the product of a child’s wildest dreams and imagination, and Jen loves superheroes. In her words, her superpower would be “to have a long stretchy neck that could stretch in and out so I could see everything from up high”
So, Jen’s wish was to fly up high in a helicopter and look down at the world from above – just like she would if she had her superpower!
And thanks to the generosity of Make-A-Wish NZ supporters, Jen’s wish came true earlier this year!
In the time before a wish comes true, we plan activities relating to the wish child’s interests. This adds sparkle and magic to the Wish Journey and builds excitement for the Wish Day!
We knew that Jen loved teddy bears, so for her Wish Anticipation, we organised a trip to Build-A-Bear, where Jen could make a special wish bear to take along on her wish trip!
Jen had an amazing time building her wish bear – which she named Jenna. She even chose a special outfit for Jenna the bear, so she would fit right in on the wish helicopter trip.
Jen is obsessed with superheroes. Her dream superpower would be “to have a long stretchy neck that could stretch in and out so I could see everything from up high.” Jen’s wish was to go up high in a helicopter, so she could see the world from above.
Jen had an amazing time in the helicopter – Daena, the volunteer who worked on Jen’s wish, noted down some of the things Jen was saying in the helicopter:
“I think we’re going to go up! It’s going faster! Wheeeeee!”
“My bear is so excited!”
“I can see the water; I can see my hospital!”
“This is so fun! I’m having so much fun!”
After the helicopter landed, Jen and her family had a teddy bear’s picnic – it was the perfect conclusion to a magical day.
