Wishes
Fulfilled
INDIA
Make-A-Wish
of India fulfilled its 400th Wish on 29th April,'99. Navneet received a
Casio keyboard from model Milind Soman. Covered by all the media, the event
was part of the Global Wish Day Celebrations for '99.
I want
to meet Lata Mangeshkar
 Madhulika
had a great passion for music. She felt that if she met Lata Mangeshkar,
the nightingale of India, she would better her own singing. It appeared
that such a genuine wish was meant to be granted at the earliest, because
the very next day, Lataji agreed. During the meeting, Madhulika was moved
to tears. She returned home feeling she had lived a beautiful dream which
would last lifelong.
 I
want to meet Kajol
16-year old
Smriti Dalmia wanted to meet Kajol. When Kajol visited her in the hospital,
all traces of her illness vanished. Her smile lit up the whole room, overwhelming
her parents. Kajol's visit lasted 15 minutes, but for Smriti it was the
joy of a lifetime.
 I
want to meet Zakir Hussain
10-year old
Puneet's greatest wish was to learn tabla from the maestro himself Zakir
Hussain. Here's a picture of them making music together. Zakir was so touched
by the incident, he said, Wah Make-A Wish. He also became a Patron recently.
HOLLAND
Johannes
meets his skating idols
Johannes from the Dutch province
Friesland, the skating center of Holland, is a great fan of speed skating.
His wish to go to the WK speed skating championships in Calgary was granted
by Make-A-Wish Holland, with fantastic help from the Southern Alberta chapter
of Make-A-Wish Canada. After a long flight, Johannes was treated to breakfast
with the Dutch men's team and later spent 3 days supporting his team from
the tribune in the Oval.
On the last day, Johannes' idol Gianni
Romme added a victory to the excitement of the day by winning the 10,000-meter
competition and setting a new world record time, as well as a world record
in the 5000-meter race. To Johannes' surprise, he was taken down onto the
ice to ride the round of honor with Gianni Romme and Sylvain Bouchard.
The photo of Johannes was featured on the front page of Holland's biggest
selling daily newspaper.
BELGIUM
Vlaanderen
Sven gets a swim prosthesis
Sven knew
his wish would be granted on April 11, but that was all. He got the surprise
of his life when a white limousine pulled up in front of his door and took
him and his family to a restaurant in Roeselare. They all sat at the table
but there were still empty seats. Sven's dream came true when Olympic champion
and world record holder (and according to Sven future world champion) swimmer
Frederik Deburghgraeve joined them. 'Fredje' had come to tell Sven that
he was going to get a special "swimmer's" prosthesis.
Now Sven trains
every week with Fredje and his team and is working hard to qualify for
the paralympics in the year 2000 in Sydney.
Playing
to her tune.
On April 29,
1998, the Coral Springs MiddleSchoolBand from Florida, USA gave a special
concert for the Make-A-Wish Foundation at the Brussels NATO Headquarters.
The concert
was the occasion to grant a wish for Clio, the Antwerp wish child. Clio
had the day of a lifetime: she experienced the excitement of conducting
an orchestra of 60 musicians, was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of her
60 new friends and last but not least, she got her sax, thanks to Danny
Lieberman, Make-A-Wish International Board member, (now President elect)
and leader of the band and others.
NEW ZEALAND
Whale
watching
Seven-year-old
Gary, an avid documentary watcher interested in all wildlife, wanted to
see some orca whales. When a pod arrived in the Bay of Island, Northland,
New Zealand, Make-A-Wish hurriedly organized for Gary to visit the area.
He was well looked after by Fullers Northland, and the company provided
a special boat just for Gary and his family. A few months later Gary, who
suffered from Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome, had a bone marrow transplant using
marrow donated by a young American girl, and the transplant has been a
success.
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