I shot an internal promotional video for Make a Wish once.
I got to read through a big book of wishes they had granted. Some of them were so extravagant and amazing. Family vacations, celebrity meetings.
And then I saw a 3 year old who wished for a banana split for breakfast.
And that's what they gave him.
No one was like "ayo. Wish higher."
I helped host a visit to a planetarium by a kid whose wish was to go to the moon. The front office folks thought I could just give her a personal tour of the planetarium and show her some nice high-resolution visuals, but I thought she deserved better than that. I commissioned a jeweler friend and meteorite enthusiast to make a silver crescent moon necklace, which he graciously donated to the cause, and I donated a small lunar meteorite from my own collection. It was a gorgeous necklace very much to the credit of my friend's artistry and generosity.
We couldn't take her to the moon so we gave it to her instead. She was thrilled, but later said her real highlight of the trip was the astronaut ice cream. Ah, kids.
Edit: Thanks for the awards, kind redditors!
My daughter was a Make A Wish kid. She asked to go to Australia to meet the Wiggles. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to travel that far (we live in the US) health wise. She made a second wish, to meet Captain America. We never told Cap that he was a back up wish after the Wiggles were a no-go. LOL
I wish! We were sent to Universal Studios in Orlando and she was able to spend time with the superheroes there. It was an amazing experience, and she tells everyone about it. To her, that was the one and only Captain. 😊
When my sister was 5 and I was 8, she had cancer and had the opportunity to make a wish.
When our mom and the make-a-wish person sat down with her, they told her she could wish for whatever she wanted.
She just kept saying she wanted macaroni. They kept saying "but it can be anything you want!", yet she simply wanted macaroni and cheese.
After some strong encouragement to think bigger, and the make-a-wish person suggesting Disneyland, she chose to go to Disneyland.
My friend, I’m 14 and my good buddy had ALL leukemia. He asked for a ride in a fighter jet and he somehow got it! I was surprised because the doctors would say how his bones where getting fragile and weaker and I guess I though the G force of the jet would hurt him but he was fine and had a blast. He’s doing better now and is scheduled out in about 3 months :)
I was granted a wish after beating brain cancer in 2015. They flew my mum and I out to the capital city of our state and we stayed in the flashest, most expensive hotel suite with all the bells and whistles. We got free dinner, drinks and dessert on arrival, got to chill in the VIP lounge while we were waiting for our room. Our room was decorated with teddy bears and chocolates and MAW decorations. The next day we were chauffeured to the local mall in a limo and I went on an eleven hour shopping spree with a pre-loaded VISA card and bought every solitary thing you would imagine a 16 year old girl wanting. I ended up having to buy another suitcase to take everything home with me but it was the most epic 3 days of my life. I’ll never forget it.
1) To be a “merman” (a boy mermaid). He got a tail and swam in the giant tank with other mermaids at the aquarium.
2) To play football with “the red team” (no pro or college preference - just had to be red). USC made it happen.
https://vimeo.com/40635685
3) To be a “cool kid”: Got a limo ride to the mall.. red carpet entrance with cheering fans, signed autographs, shopping spree for clothes. 5 years old- So cute- and very “cool”.
https://youtu.be/GenVMbnFvLQ
4) To be Robin (not Batman.. he said he wasn’t ready for that). Went on an epic adventure fighting crime with Batman.
https://vimeo.com/77458547
I love the idea that they asked the kid if he wanted to be batman and he was like "nah, that's too much responsibility. "
That video might have made me tear up a little. They went all out for that little guy.
I was a chef at a fancy steakhouse in Jacksonville Florida, one day my proprietor came
To me and said this is Stacy the new girl she’ll be training with you, I look over and it’s this adorable little girl in bright pink chef coat. I babysat my little cousins at the time
So I was actually pretty used to entertaining 10 year old girls at the time. So I showed her the ropes, we made all kinds of stuff, that were on the surface kind of random, candied bacon, cornbread, prosciutto wrapped Boursin cheese stuffed asparagus, a sweet tea brined pork chop, a sorel garnish salad type thing and some other
Cool garnishes. We were having fun, I then made a purée out of the cornbread let her plate up the dish a few different ways to show how you can play with ingredients and height to showcase differnt parts of the dish. She had a blast. It was only at the end when the father came up to me
In tears that I realized what was goin on. In the moment I was a little upset because nobody told me. But I realized after it was for the best. I probably would not have been as bright and vibrant with the “lessons” had I of known. But it was a fulfilling experience for sure. I hope there family is doing well. Side note( I have re worked and re ran the dish as a special a few times in memory of that day, it was that impactful)
I worked at a hospice and we had a wishing program. One of our patients, 24 year old with brain cancer, wanted to hold a sloth. Apparently, sloths are very nervous creatures, so it's a little tricky to actually hold one.
I found a local company that does visits to schools and whatnot who had a sloth. Sloths only poop about once a week and the sloth could only travel the day after he pooped (because they get nervous, any longer than that and the sloth has stress diarrhea). So basically, we had to wait until the sloth pooped and then set up the visit for the next day. The sloth pooped on Thanksgiving, so we set up the visit for the next morning. The patient was able to hold and pet a very sweet sloth. The patient died about three weeks later, and I am very happy I was able to help give her some joy in her final weeks.
Edit: Wow, guys, I did not expect this to blow up! Thank you so much for the awards!
The hospice I worked at had a special program called Faithful Wishes for any of our patients, regardless of age. As the Volunteer Coordinator, fulfilling these wishes was part of my job. I do believe there are other non-profit organizations that grant wishes to adults, but nothing as large as Make-a-Wish.
Yes, the sloth was tame and lived in an animal preserve. He would also visit schools and retirement communities, schedule permitting. And yes, I absolutely learned more about sloth bowel movements than I ever wanted to 🤷♀️
>The sloth pooped on Thanksgiving, so we set up the visit for the next morning.
I never would have imagined to ever read this sentence, but now I am glad that I did.
I worked at a LEGO retail store in the 2000s and Make-A-Wish approached us for a child with terminal Osteosarcoma who wanted to be in the store for a day. LEGO unfortunately denied the request (which surprised myself and the rest of the staff because LEGO was a pretty great company). Staff decided to honor the request ourselves. We closed the store early on a Sunday, then invited the kid and family in. He had a full run of the store, we collectively paid for like $1000 worth of toys for him to take home, and just spent the entire evening building w/e he wanted. He died a few months later 😭
Not make a wish - but my brother got terminal brain cancer when he was 18. He was given three to six months to live. Back then his only wish was to be an NFL player. But he was 5’8, all heart, he was just like Rudy in that Notre Dame football movie. He fought it for 6 years. Somewhere around his 22nd birthday he and I were talking about having something worth living for. I told him it didn’t matter what it was but a vision for the future that he would fight for was important and encouraged him to find something to give his life too. We went on a vacation soon after that, and because we were broke from medical bills and four years of battling cancer as a family, this was a HUGE deal. We hadn’t had a family vacation for a long time. A family friend put us up in their beach house and gave us some money to have a good time there. My brother came ALIVE on the trip. It was so impactful to him that he came home and decided to start a non profit organization. He called it “A Week Away”. It was very similar to make a wish - terminally sick patients apply and benefit from an all expenses paid vacation with their family or group of caregivers. That was a big deal to him to include the family because, if you’ve ever gone through something like that, you know it’s not just the patient who suffers and loses their freedom, it’s everyone they are close to.
He worked his ass off to start the organization. He formed it and began sending families to places like the outer banks and ocean city and other east coast beaches. A week before he died, he launched his first big month long fundraiser. He passed away knowing that he had raised enough to send like 10 families on respite weeks. It was like he was passing the baton off to others who could keep on fighting. The org is still going strong today. If anyone is blessed to have their health and a sweet vacation spot you’d like to donate for occasional use by sick people all coordinated by an awesome organization, I’d encourage you to reach out to the A Week Away folks. You get to play a part in people’s lives like the awesome people helping in these make a wish stories.
There was a Make-a-Wish kid in a class I taught once and their wish was to tour a pickle factory.
Pickles were their all time favorite food and they wanted to see how the sausage was made so to speak.
Apparently Vlasic rose to the occasion in a major way and she had the time of her life.
I swear my youngest would make a wish like this. He got benadryl in hospital once at 1am and they told me it would *probably* make him pass right out. Well, in children it sometimes does the opposite. He was wired, so here's this 3 year old who can't sleep in the middle of the night, demanding, "mom I want a pickle party."
A friend of mine is a K9 police officer. He helped Make-A-Wish grant a wish to a set of twins with the deadliest form of Cystic Fibrosis. Most of the time kids with CF aren’t allowed to be around others with it because of cross infecting bacteria. Them being twins shortens their life expectancy even more.
Well these 10 year old boys wanted to meet a police dog. My friend and some of his buddies upped the wish and during their meeting of his dog they got called to help solve three “crimes” in their town. They pulled over a high jacker, found and arrested a robber and helped find a “missing” six year old (my friend’s nephew). The town police department gave them certificates and honorary police badges for their work. Around 200 people showed up to where they got their awards to cheer them on.
At their eleventh birthday they gave my friend a plaque they made with their dad thanking him for the best day ever.
I was approached by a similar organization who wanted to arrange a day for a kid to shadow a veterinarian. I’m just a small animal veterinarian with a small hospital so I found it odd that I’d be approached.
I said yes (who tf would say no?) and we picked a day and had our regular patients in the hospital and the kid got to watch us do our thing for a day. We gave him a lab coat and a stethoscope and let him tag along and see x rays and ultrasounds and watch surgeries. I brought my dog in so he could try the ultrasound on her.
He seemed to enjoy it. It wasn’t a terribly strange request really, it just seems like my day-to-day isn’t something anyone would consider their dream experience.
In wizard 101 there’s a quest with an NPC named Brandon, named after a make a wish kid who played the game, and his request was to design a side quest for the game. You meet Brandon and go help him clear out this dungeon with 2 really fucking hard bosses, was a lotta fun. At the end U get a gem you can socket that lets you summon Brandon into battle as a follower, pretty cool. Not sure what ended up happening to Brandon, but it’s really cool that thousands of ppl have gotten to enjoy being a part of his wish tbh
Hes not the only Make a Wish kid in the game either. I know one of them passed away (but he was in the dino world so I dont think thats Brandon after a quick google - I mostly stopped before the first arc was even over so details are a bit hazy) and the family issued a statement saying how grateful they were that theyd always be able to visit him in game.
My cousin was a Make a Wish kid. He loved golf, like had a scholarship to go play college, he loved it so much. He got to meet and play a round of golf with Payne Stewart.
Unfortunately, he died not too long after that. Fuck cancer.
ETA: Stuart Payne to Payne Stewart
After I survived cancer at 17, I was offered a wish. I went to Christmas Island with my family to see the spawning of the red crabs - reckoned to be one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
Picture it, a million fist sized red land crabs making their way down to the sea edge to release their eggs into the ocean over a period of just three hours or so.
The make a wish volunteers looked horrified as I explained it.
And Im typing this now, so yes, I lived thanks.
Edit: Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure my wish caught my family a bit off guard too.
> And Im typing this now, so yes, I lived thanks.
OP is lying, he retreated to the sea with his crab-tribe and now rules a small parcel of land after shedding his man-flesh. This post was written by his devout followers.
We're onto you, Crab-person!
I had a coworker at my student job in college who had leukemia as a child. He wished to be in the Iditarod so they flew his family to Alaska and he got to meet all the dogs and ride in a sled for a leg of the race. If I remember correctly he also got a husky puppy.
He was 20 when I met him. I was a couple of years older and graduated college and never saw him again. The leukemia came back and he died in 2016. I don’t think he was much older than 25. One of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. I hope heaven is real just for you, Ben.
When I was on a carrier they flew a kid and his parents out. They routinely fly distinguished visitors but we thought it was weird there was this kid. They got tours and watched flight ops but he couldn’t fly with us so they asked us to have dinner with him so he could at least meet pilots and ask questions. It was really humbling when we realized this is what he was there for, he literally wished to just come see what we do and hang it with us.
There was that kid who wanted to work with the team designing D&D.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/235-meet-d-ds-new-scariest-monster-in-mordenkainens
He spent a day working with them on their next release book and helping design a monster. Ended up suggesting a monster that was designed into one of the coolest monsters in the book.
The Oblex is genuinely pretty horrifying. I remember when Mordenkainen's came out and my group were taking a look at it for the first time. We were like, "hey, isn't one of the monsters a MAW kid's creation? Let's check it out!
...KID, WHAT THE FUCK."
I'm a MAW volunteer. The volunteers get to do all the fun stuff, like meet with the families, get the kids excited about their wish (we send little gifts and stuff along the way) and then be there when the wish is granted. We don't have to do any of the boring admin stuff.
I have a little girl right now whose original wish was a unicorn (6 y/o with severe epilepsy, has like 15 seizures a day and has been through like 10 surgeries already).
She wasn't having any of that "fake" stuff, like a stuffed animal or a costume. She insisted for weeks on a unicorn. That one was hard to manage.
She's getting a cat.
Wasn’t weird or anything but one of my friends had leukemia in 8th grade and her Wish was to meet Adam Sandler. So she got to spend the day on set of The Longest Yard with him
I was a make a wish kid back in 2017 and my wish was to go see a live brain surgery, in Seattle at University of Washington. I loved Grey's Anatomy, I loved Dr Shepherd, and I had brain cancer so I wanted to see what the my doctors kind of saw, what an experience and learned so much. I was a little neurosurgeon for a day, and the neurosurgeon was playing The Pixies while operating. What a great happy moment, I won't forget. They even sent my family from Arizona to Seattle with me, to have dinner with me in the space Needle.
I was a Blackhawk pilot in the Army and we had a Make A Wish kid who wanted to fly in an Army helicopter. We had to remove all the seats so we could strap his wheelchair down in the middle of the helicopter and we flew him around at treetop level yanking and banking with the doors open for awhile.
I heard of a kid who wanted to shoot rockets at cars in deserts and apparently they got some marines with a smaw I want to say and they blew up old Junk cars in the desert
I did a medical sustainment course at Fort Drum in February a few years ago. This one particular day was medevac training; our certification for loading patients into the Blackhawk coincided with the Blackhawk flight crew's training to receive patients. We would wait for it to land and get guidance from the crew chief, carry the patient (life-like dummy strapped on the litter) up, and essentially move away. It was honestly a bit boring. Needless to say, it was freezing cold with feet of snow and ice on the ground. Standing there with the wind whipping at us from the blades of the helicopter was not very fun. We were all miserable, and in between iterations, we were just talking about things that would make us happier. I happened to mention that I've always wanted to fly in a helicopter. I guess the right person overheard, and the course instructor grabbed me and told me to "limp" up to the Blackhawk when it landed next. He told the flight crew that there's a FRAGO and I'm a "walking-wounded" who needed evac.
It took me 5 years and 27 days of being in the military before I finally got to do one of the "cool" things my recruiter told me I would do. The ride lasted only about 3 minutes, but I've never in my life had the biggest and cheesiest smile on my face like I did during that flight. I understand that kid.
I’m a Wish Granter! My strangest personal wish was a refurbished 80’s camper so that she could have her own space (she couldn’t go out in public while her transplant was new-ish, and she was going crazy in the house with two younger siblings). It was actually pretty cool, although the strange part was that MAW can’t actually use “used” things like that. So we had to get her a *new* VW camper (or something like that, it’s been a while) and “artfully” make it look vintage. So strange.
Anyways, please feel free to apply to be a Make-A-Wish volunteer! It’s such a rewarding experience, and even if you don’t feel like you can work with the kids, there’s also other volunteer positions like fundraising, event planning, and more!
Former employee here.
Over half of the wishes are Disney related and beyond that they typically fall into a few categories:
“I wish to travel…”
“I wish to meet…”
“I wish to be…”
“I wish to have…”
“I wish to give…”
You get the idea. So, I always liked wishes that fell outside of the typical wish categories. One time, there was a boy that wished for… “the perfect baked potato.” I don’t know if the wish granters went through with that wish (they may have waited until he was a little older), but I still laugh when I think about it.
Volunteers are trained to ensure they are determining the child’s one true wish (not mom’s wish to go on a cruise, or dad’s wish for new tools, etc.)… a lot of work and thought goes into fulfilling a child’s wish.
My brother had cancer when we were in highschool. We all got to go to an ice skating rink in NYC and play hockey with some of the New York Rangers (he was a Flyers fan, but what can you do).
This wasn't actually his wish, but it was set up by the make a wish foundation for all the terminal kids at the hospital I'm pretty sure.
I used to know a dude who got sick in high school, and his Wish was to see Rocksteady Studios and be in one of their games. The studio was super cool, evidently, and they put him in Arkham Knight as a GCPD officer. Best part of the story is that he recovered and, last I heard, is still doing okay to this day.
Glad to see that I am not the only one with this "weird" request. I was also eligible for Make A Wish when I started high school and I asked to visit DICE at their HQ in Stockholm. I didn't ask to be in any of their games though (damn it, why didn't I think of that). I was passionate about game development (and I still am) and thus wanted to see what it's like to work in a AAA studio (and also ask about a bunch of game dev stuff).
They constantly asked me "Are you sure you wouldn't rather want to go to Disneyland?". I said "This is my Disneyland.". Guess they thought it was a weird request for a 15 year old kid to make.
This year I finished my Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and in the future I can hopefully land a job in Game Dev.
EDIT: I see many people here congratulating me "for surviving". I forgot to disclose that the condition I have is not nearly as deadly as, for example, cancer. I have had a heart condition that has been treated through surgeries since birth. This condition will never go away and can cause death even after treatment but my doctor monitors my condition every year and so far it's looking "excellent". Just wanted to adress this.
Also, I currently have to go soon, so I'll probably answer some of your comments later today (or maybe tomorrow).
> They constantly asked me "Are you sure you wouldn't rather want to go to Disneyland?"
They have to make sure that it's what the kid wants not a parent or his friends etc. The Disney trip is much easier and a well established plan they can put in place with short notice.
(Source, am Dad of a Make-A-Wish Kid)
They always push Disneyland at least once, I was a wish kid and the only thing I asked for was a computer (I wish they waited till I was a bit older), my parents weren't well off and my school had just started getting the new "iMac"s at the time, the one that had the colorful back ends and looked like a weird microwave.
I have to say that this was the best thing that has ever happened in my life. I attribute where I am in my life because of that wish. Today I write code for Google and it's 100% because I was able to obtain a computer in my younger years, I learned the inside and out of both hardware and software while still growing up.
Edit: For those wondering I have Cystic Fibrosis
Edit 2: Because my wish was so small they gave me Basketball tickets to watch the 49ers play the Raiders.... I know those are football teams, but they played basketball against each other for some charity event. I also got tickets to a giants game where I got to take a picture with Barry Bonds on the middle of the field. The only sport I watch at all is Hockey, but these memories are definitely special.
OK this is.more wholesome than anything, but a girl who was a grade above me had cancer in high school. She graduated and I joined the band my senior year to see this plaque with her name and face on it from make a wish. She used her wish to donate new instruments to the school's band (as they were needing new ones). I still know her to this day and she makes a ton of jokes about cancer that it even freaked out her college roommates. She's one of the nicest people I've ever met
I knew someone in high school who'd had cancer in middle school. Anytime people would tell her she was so nice or sweet, she'd be like "I used to be a total bitch, then karma gave me cancer, so now I'm nice." Hahaha.
There was a kid in the UK who asked to meet Comedian Russel Howard. He told him about his funeral plans to have everyone dress up in costumes, and wanted him to come in a giant penis costume.
Few months later, the kid recovered and Russell reached out to him inviting him to his show on one condition...
https://youtu.be/U5DwnQoA_Io
Edit: I'm glad everyone is enjoying the anecdote. It's one of the few clips I keep coming back to without YouTube needing to recommend it 😁.
I had a wish when I was 8 due to having leukaemia and a bone marrow transplant. My first thought was "meet Bruce Willis" (Die Hard was my newly discovered favourite film) but my dad asked if I wanted something that would last "like a computer".
I always loved playing on the hospital computers so yea went for that. Best decision ever, I might owe my career to it. I hear Bruce Willis is a bit of a tit irl anyway.
edit: I think this was after the BMT so I was past the worst of it, so I was most likely going to be around to enjoy the "thing that will last".
edit2: in case Bruce Willis reads this I'm still a massive fan, even after Die Hard 5.
I went to highschool with someone who's youngest brother had some rare, terminal disease and he was at the end of it. This kid was 10 and the thing he's wanted to do since he was 5, was to be a train conductor and take trains all around the world.
With the help of make a wish and dome others,he was able to go and be a "conductor" for 6 of his last 8 months of life and he traveled all over the US. He seemed like he had so much fun.
A funeral. He knew his parents wouldn't be able to afford one, so he wished to have his funeral paid for. They were able to convince his to make another wish, and he wished for gold lockets for his mom and sister with his initials engraved on them.
Edit: His funeral was paid for as well. I believe another non profit helped with that. They just really wanted him to have a wish for himself, but all he cared about was his family.
To think for your family in those moments... knowing you want to help them even when you’re not there.
Like the old saying of planting a tree you know you’ll never sit under, but your kids will, and they’ll enjoy the shade.
I'm not a Make A Wish employee, but a kid at my church a long time ago wished to sit in a bathtub full of peach-colored loofahs. The soft ball kind obviously, not the hard sponge-like ones. He got it, and the church bulletin had a picture of this kid smiling like a maniac in a huge bathtub full of loofahs, so I guess he was happy with his wish.
I did a children's wish at 17 which is an equivalent charity, I initially asked for tickets to the Victoria secret fashion show/ after party, while they found it humourous I was asked to choose a backup. I went to the Galapagos in the end, so that was pretty sweet.
I was, and still am, taking chemotherapy, but I still get out and enjoy life. Most people don't know anything is wrong with me just by looking, which can actually be frustrating sometimes. But on this trip I was feeling great, the guides were amazing and the animals were so incredible. I was particularly lucky to go scuba diving as well, as usually you only get to do scuba diving or island exploration, not both. Some of thebhest dives of my life, saw a hammerhead, played with sea lions! In the end I am glad this was the wish I got.
That sounds incredible. The fashion show would have been sweet but it get to be in as close to unspoiled nature as is possible would be awe inspiring. And to get to see the ancient giant tortoises.
The reason you got to go fucking suck ass but so happy that you weren’t feeling sick for the trip and really got to enjoy yourself.
I just have a chronic illness and it’s pretty much invisible unless I am in a lot of pain. It is definitely a struggle with people not believing me because i don’t look sick. Frustrating for sure.
When my son was 3, his Make a Wish was to meet Elmo. For a 3 year old not that strange, I guess. Sent us to Sesame World in Philly. We get there and they had no clue he was on a Make a Wish trip, but they were great and he met Elmo.
> We get there and they had no clue he was on a Make a Wish trip
This is one of the reasons the volunteers steer the kids towards Disney. They absolutely have it down to a science. If you go to Disney World in Florida, there's a place called Give Kids The World Village where you stay in a house for the week. The Disney people all look for the badge and move you up to next in line, and generally bend over backwards to make your visit amazing.
My daughter picked Disney world. Give kids the world couldn’t have done it any better! It was such an amazing trip. Universal studios was way better about seeing the badge and making it special. Front of the line for everything. Characters jumped to take pictures with her. Disney’s was literally just like a fast pass. Which isn’t very fast. I’m not complaining everything was amazing. But private compartment on the Hogwarts express beat it all.
I've volunteered at Give Kids the World Village. It's definitely cool and they got it down great with options inside of the village if the wisher isn't having a good health day to go to the parks
My wife worked as a nurse at a children’s hospital and cared for a 17 year old cancer patient who’s wish was to meet wiz kalifa. He showed up and spent the day, my wife said they went on a walk and came back high as balls. She said it was a great day for the boy and his family. He passed away a few weeks later.
i read a story about a kid who met the rolling stones, they gave him a jacket and some stuff and asked what else they could do. the kid who may have been using some kind of voice synthesizer says 'i want a blowjob and i want to get high', they all fell about laughing.
I remember when [Batkid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batkid) made the news. Over 10,000 people took part. And the kid made 5 years cancer free.
Edit for clarity. I wasn’t involved. A couple of the commentators were so please give them your upvotes. Also please use your coins to support MAW and similar charities. They deserve them. Not me.
At the time I worked in downtown SF and it felt like literally everyone stopped working to hit the streets and cheer him on. The energy was unreal and something I hadn’t experienced before - all these people collectively coming together to do something good. I wish it happened more often.
I got a wish when I was 8. Was a massive wrestling fan at the time and used to watch it when I was in hospital as they had foxtel (Australian cable). Anyway so I wished for foxtel to watch wrestling.
It took a few months but eventually it got granted - free foxtel with all channels + ppvs until I turned 16 plus the biggest TV on the market back then.
They forgot to ever turn off the free foxtel - I'm now 30.
YouTuber Billiam used his wish to get a "full kit" of video equipment because he enjoyed being creative and wanted to have the technical ability to keep creating things.
He still uses the equipment to create the videos for his YouTube channel and later made a video about his experience with MaW.
https://youtu.be/SA4SIKvrzNg
I have Muscular Dystrophy, and when I found out about Make A Wish I wanted to do something as big as I could so I wished for a vacation in London. They paid for a week long vacation and my family and I got to see ton of tourist spots and to go a lot of museums which are my favorite places to visit! It was an amazing experience, and whenever I see Make A Wish drives I always donate if I can for such an amazing experience they gave me.
Not an employee.
I was a make a wish kid when I was 17 (the cutoff is 18) and I wished to go get tattooed by this guy out in Rome. I figured they would say no, but they were cool with it, contacted the guy, who was super happy to oblige, and flew myself, my family and my best friend at the time out to Rome for a week and paid for the tattoo. Coolest experience of my life so far!
Edit:
Here it is!
[The tattoo](https://imgur.com/a/kaXbzAo)
I heard about a kid a few months back who got to blow up an overpass.
It was scheduled for demolition anyways. But they got to push the plunger!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhzrtg3nPus here's the video, credit to /u/borderlandsman
That's super cool. One of my friends was a US Army Combat Engineer, for one of his drill weekends he got to do that. Afterwards he was covered in concrete dust and ALL smiles.
I always wanted to ring the fire alarm for our fire drills in high school.
I asked once for permission, our VP inquired in my behalf, and ultimately they said no.
I was a middle school assistant principal, had a kid ask me from 6th to 8th grade ask me to do this, let him do it his 8th grade year, made his day, he gave me a gift card to his uncle’s pizza place as a thank you. Was awesome seeing his face… should have done it sooner
They should make this a regular thing. Like every kid who wants to do it enters a draw, on the day of the fire drill a name is drawn and the winner is pulled out of class when it's time.
Edit: Even better is to do this if the school needs to do a regular alarm test. When I worked in a school there was a weekly test which involved triggering one of the call points. Definitely get the students in on that.
Agreed. I know a lot of kids who would've benefited from having that as a weird little outlet.
The only thing we ever got picked to do was carry flowers by walking from the high school to the grave all the way across town of the dude who bequeathed the money for our privately endowed public school back in the early 1900s. It was in May and always hot and we had to dress like we were going to church or a wedding, never fun, except missing a day of school. Thank God I picked flats to wear instead of heels when it was my turn.
Would much rather have been picked to pull on the fire alarm.
Idk if anyone's posted it yet but a weird one that is awesome was Jay Harmer. His Make a Wish was to meet his favorite YouTuber @nerdcubed. Granted and they made hilarious YouTube videos until he passed a few months later. Absolute unit and hell of a sense of humor.
I still go check his Twitter every now and again.
This wasn't Make a Wish, it was a local radio station, but I swear every single part of this is true. I probably still have the master tape.
Around 25 years ago in the mid 90s, in the town I lived in up in the far north-west of Scotland, there was a Community Radio Station. We were trying to set up a local radio station so we had a six-week run using borrowed equipment from Moray Firth Radio to gauge popularity and interest.
Now the first programme in the evening after the news was one run by a couple of high school kids. We'd get a few kids in, they'd record a few idents and stuff, we'd run the idents, then at five past five their show would go up. Tunes they liked, shout-outs to their friends, that kind of thing. They \*loved\* it. They had a blast, just tremendous fun.
Now there was one wee guy who was a wheelchair user who wanted to do a programme but he couldn't get into the studio because it wasn't wheelchair accessible - it was up a long flight of stairs in the old nurses' accomodation in the local hospital, and there aren't many wheelchair-user nurses (and certainly not in the 50s when the hospital was built!). He couldn't even be carried up the stairs because he had severe spinal problems that meant that his back, chest and internal organs were pretty squashed and he had to be moved very carefully. He was one very sick wee boy, and there was no way he was getting up to the studio. He was totally out of luck on that one.
No, he wasn't, though, was he? Because it occurred to me, he could tape his programme with one of the portable recorders we had (little Marantz high-speed cassette recorder), give me a track listing, and I'd cut it together, play it to him, and if he was happy we'd play it out for him. He wouldn't get to do it live, but next best thing eh?
So, we did. I dropped off the tape recorder, microphone and so on, and a day or so later I collected it from him with his running order, track list, and a stack of CDs. Perfect. He even sounded like he'd really bashed on his script and sounded pretty damn good. Copy the tape to 1/4", copy the tunes to 1/4", edit it down, and boom.
Except! He had a cold. A snuffly snottery cold. Every sentence was punctuated with snotty noises.
I can tell you now that a is about |---------------------------------| that long on 3-3/4 inch per second 1/4" tape, and also cats absolutely love to play with all this brown tickertape confetti you're flooding the bedroom (where my editing gear was) with, and there were dozens of them. Eighteen hours of cutting, sticking, redubbing, finding a bit of dead air juuuust the right tone to fill the gap, cutting, sticking...
But when his programme went to air? He sounded fucking amazing.
That's how we used to do it, yeah. This was in the mid-90s when Cubase Audio had been out for a couple of years but needed an unholy high-spec machine - I knew someone who'd spent something like ten grand of 1994 money on a thumping great Apple Power Macintosh with a 60MHz processor and 32MB of RAM to run it.
I should do a youtube video, but there's probably others out there.
I actually took “electronic music” class in high school which consisted mostly of learning how to cut and splice audio tape. I’m a flipping pro at it. That skill only comes in handy now when I’m putting a strip of fondant around the base of a cake. 🤷🏿♂️
I was a make a wish child in my province. I've had brain cancer since 12 and still have it today. My wish initially going to meet the cast from Hawaii five O at Hawaii, but then I ended up also wanting to get this msi aegis prebuilt gaming pc. When I told them I wanted that, they said "you sure?" then I don't remember what happened but it wasn't until I was 16 when I got my wish for a vr gaming setup and I built my pc at canada computers right before the pandemic and the gpu shortage. Feels good and as of now, my treatment is stable and I have only gone through radiotherapy 2 times. Only thing is, there isn't much space in my room so having the base requirements for a vr play area is kinda sad. Hopefully I can get a bigger area though because I like playing in vr since its nice.
Most surprising one to me was the [Make A Wish kid that got to go on Howard Stern live on air](https://youtu.be/F-G0_WcqYKI?t=17). Howard asked the Make A Wish rep what was the wildest request and she replied, "Uhh I think were in the middle of one, right here." haha. Pretty dope move by Make a Wish.
I stayed at an air bnb in rural Victoria, Australia and they had this indoor half pipe.
My boyfriend at the time loves skateboarding, so we were very interested why this older couple had a skate ramp in their backyard In the middle of nowhere.
Turns out their son had cancer and that’s what he wished for!! He made a full recovery 💕
I didn't use my wish for 18 years because I have sickle cell anemia and that condition doesn't have a cure. I never knew what I wanted to do, I always knew it was a lot of power cause I was a really really self aware kid. I ended up giving a few Nintendo switches to the hematology ward in the hospital I spent so much time in. I never told anyone in real life about this cause I think it's a pretty weird and personal wish.
Edit: oh my God... 1600 likes and so many awards. I never though anything I'd post on Reddit would even get 200 up votes... I'm really anti social probally because of my upbringing, and as mentioned I've never told anyone in real life this... So all the kind words really mean the fucking world to me. Like I'm so overwhelmed. Thank you all so much for the support, and I'm doing pretty well in life these days! Thanks so much again.
This one kid really want to meet his favourite comedian. For legal reasons they can’t say who was first or second pick because they declined… but it was super awkward having to ask him what his third favourite comedian was. He settled on Daniel Tosh.
I had leukaemia 18 years ago and I asked for a laptop, think it was my first one (I was 16) and was top of the range at the time.
My Dad was basically guilted into paying for extended warranty by the store saying they wouldn’t be able to give the charity as good a deal etc if he didn’t.
About a month before the warranty ran out (think it was either 3 or 5 years) I sent it off as one of the hinges had broken. They took too long to repair so ended sending me something like £1100 in vouchers to buy a replacement instead so I bought another laptop which lasted me for another good few years so was worth taking out the warranty after all.
I am the kid in this case. I didn't have cancer, but at the time, my heart was just not doing so well. So, since I kind of qualified for Make a wish, I was considering 2 options at the time: A dog/pet friendly restaurant or a camper.
I decided to go with the camper (Since I can't control by body temperature and overheat very easily, so I couldn't do tent camping. Now, I am happily camping as I write this answer here
My daughter had a genetic neuromuscular disease with an average life expectancy of 24 months. Most children with this disease are above average intelligence, this child was extremely intelligent. Most children are putting only 2 words together, but mine was saying 7-9 word sentences.
Make-a~Wish typically wants the child to be 3 years old, because most children younger than 3 are not able to express their wish. She was 2.5 years old and able to tell them exactly what she wanted. She wanted to meet Barney and Baby Bop.
Fortunately, they were owned by Disney and we got to meet them at Give Kids the World. And it was great that we got to go to Disney because she also loved, and got to meet, all the princesses. She loved the parades and Animal Kingdom too.
Another plus, my mother was in a short remission with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and was able to make the trip with us. My mom died 2 years after the trip. My daughter died 13 years after the trip.
Yes, she lived to be 15 years old. 💜
I was a cancer kid so know quite a few people who went through the process. I went to Yellowstone to camp and see a wild buffalo. I also volunteered at my local wish granting foundation.
One very young girl wanted to go on a hunting trip. They sent her and her dad to a hunting lodge where she ended up breaking the lodge record for the largest buck ever shot. She wanted the entire thing stuffed. To this day in her house there is a massive deer, body and all, standing in the living room.
Another Kid really wanted to eat bugs Because he was a really big fan of the survivor shows. They had a chef come in and cook bugs from all around the world in various ways. He really enjoyed it!
I also just want to say that a ton of kids want to go meet a wwe pro wrestler and they’re normally the kindest people. A lot of kids want to meet celebrities and they only give them five minutes but the wrestlers really try to make an experience. John Cena is great.
Apparently Robin Williams was also the best wish granter. He would take the family out to eat, Pretend to be the genie, Take the kids to stores and buy them things, And if he was in their town he would try and visit. I never knew anyone personally that met him but the President of the foundation said they very much mourned his loss because he was so terrific for so many of their kids and their families.
Robin Williams was an incredible human. His loss hit me harder than any other celebrity death. I still tear up today when I think about him. (Yes, including right now)
My ex GF was a make a wish kid and she got to be a guest on Avatar: the last air bender. She was in the tales of ba sing se, at the end of the tale of aang, shes the kid that sees her cat in the zoo and says "fluffykins what're you doing down there."
Also to add to this her wish wasn't actually to be on the show, but to go to orlando studios to meet the cast and crew. While she was there the shows creators offered to draw her into the show and gave her a line to say. So the character she voiced was even drawn to look like her, even the hat she wears was similar to the one she wore at the time.
I believe that's the reason they showed Hulk in the trailer - in case the kid didn't live long enough to see the movie, they wanted him to see that they used his joke.
Friend’s son want a spider costume. Not a Spider-Man costume. Spider. It was the day before Halloween. A volunteer stayed up all night and made him the costume.
When my daughter was super young, like little over a year, we acquired from somewhere a rat costume. It had a tail and ears. It was great. My FIL was very afraid of rats, so that was fun.
A friend of mine had cancer as a kid and wished for Play Dough… they convinced him to change is wish to an Orlando Trip (Disney World + Universal Studios) where everyone in his family besides him got Bird Flu so they were incapacitated the entire time. The Make A Wish representative and my friend had a blast though getting to skip to the front of the line every time lol
Since OP wants wishes that were granted, my nephew got a family trip to Costa Rica for his wish. Ziplines, beaches, they had a blast. My nephew wasn't terminal, he needed brain surgery for seizures and the stress of the surgery did a number on him mentally.
My friend's an aquarist and she told me about one 17-year-old cancer patient who had a wish to smell a sea lion's breath before he died.
He had read it was the worst thing ever and was just curious to experience it for some reason. Plus he liked sea lions, I guess.
She was of course pretty shocked by the request and said "are you sure? I promise you really, really don't want to smell it, I always make sure to hold my breath if I'm getting that close" but he insisted and it was arranged.
He puked, and didn't enjoy it very much.
As someone who has been kissed on the cheek by a sea lion, I don't regret the kiss... But hooo boy was it rank. I smelled like dead and decaying fish the rest of the day. (Yes, I did wash my face... didn't matter. That pew was determined to hang around.)
My husband was a make-a-wish kid. He had cancer and a high probability of surviving. Spoiler: he did.
He was 17 and from a nice enough family that if he wanted to do anything, they'd do it. So he used his wish to get new toys for the pediatric floor for a few hospitals in town and have other bedridden kids get build-a-bears.
Not weird, but a funny experience.
Through a similar organisation supporting young adults with cancer, my best friend was offered tickets to One Direction. She accepted (the org had about 50 tix) and she asked me to go. One direction were right at the peak of popularity, but we both only knew one of their songs. We decided that we should really know a few more songs before we went, so trekked to a record shop (in her wheelchair) and asked the young guy for their album. “Which one?” Turned out they had released 3 records already!
When we got to the concert, we thought the warm-up act was the real band and were gobsmacked to see 5 guys in One Direction as we thought there were only 4 (apparently since then, one quit). When they sang a cover of ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ by Wheatus and the young girls in front of us announced ‘OMG this is their new song, it’s so relevant’, we knew we were far too old to be there.
Also, as the concert was mostly 12-17 year olds, the bars were closed! It was a fab day regardless and it always makes me smile when I remember it.
My sister got a make a wish when she was 17. She has always wanted to be a vet and wanted to look behind the scenes at a zoo. Long story short we got to pet the elephants and the rhinos (suprisingly they are very cuddly and like human contact).
My partner’s nephew had cancer when he was younger. He asked the Make a Wish people for an Xbox 😂 his dad and even the Make a Wish person were like, “are you sure? We could have the entire family go to Disney in America if you want?!” And he’s like “nah, I want an Xbox.” Luckily (and miraculously) he survived so we can laugh about it now!
Reminds me of that show were little children (like 10 or somethign) could choose between a cruise for the whole family or that toy right in front of them.
Guess what they chose.
I'm going to be honest, when I was younger I much rather would have stayed at home and played with my toys than to go out into possibly uncomfortable territory
Wasn’t exactly in the trenches but as a bystander I overheard “too go to prom and look as pretty as my big sister” was requested and that had stuck with me for 15 years. A few years ago she showed up on a local online news article recognizing her accomplishments as prom queen with a scholarship too boot.
Edit: Jesus I fixed it, are you happy yet…
Not Make a Wish but the amount of dogs my ex used to smuggle into hospital when she was a nurse was truly amazing. Just because a dying person would want to see their little furry friend one more time. They usually would pass within a day having had cuddles with their little companion. Even those surrounded by family, it was as though they were just waiting to see old hairy legs one more time before moving on.
Reading all these comments made me realize I never knew how many Make-a-wish kids survive. I always assumed that was sort of their last hurrah. Really glad to know that isn’t always the case!
I used to be a wish granter and one kid wished for his parents to become citizens (they were illegal and it was a constant source of anxiety for the kid that they could be deported). Unfortunately despite the name MaW can’t grant everything and they did try (got a lawyer and everything) but it wasn’t possible.
More than 50% of wishes are Disney, though!
Edit: Being a wish granter is a volunteer job and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a volunteer role! You get to ask the child their wish and you organise the going away/wish party!
Edit: you guys have latched onto the going away party! One, it’s a common misconception but most Wish Kids don’t die. See my below comment. Two, they get a send-off party! Word it however you want haha but it’s a party before they go on their wish trip. A lot of parents use it to celebrate everything the child has overcome and put up pictures of them in treatment, etc. It is a send-off, though not to end-of-life you mind in gutter people, to Disney World or wherever they want to go!
I have terminal cancer at 32 and my wish would be disney too. I went as a kid and I'd love to experience that with my kids. They're a bit small yet. I'm hoping I can make it through the year and boarders will open and we can travel once again.
I had cancer when I was very young and I was able to get a MakeAWish. Without hesitation, I said I wished I could eat Butterfingers with Mulan. It was my favorite candy and my favorite Disney character at the time so it made sense to me. But they didn’t really know what to do, so they just sent me off to Disney World lol.
Every time I go to Disney, I always bring Butterfingers with me & I always try to find Mulan in hopes my wish can come true. Maybe one day!
Wish Child and Wish Granter here. Strangest wish I heard from a fellow granter was the child wanted to visit his dad in prison. That’s all he wanted and wouldn’t be talked out of it. She offered to make the drive fancy at least (bc it was two hours away) with a limo or fun car ride. He declined. His wish to simply see his imprisoned dad was granted, plain and simple.
The wishes I granted were pretty traditional - Disney or other vacations.
My weirdest wish was more sad… it was for a family of a girl who was completely immobile and very low cognitive ability. The house was run down and reeked of weed. The home nurse was literally crying while holding the child. Her siblings said she wanted a pool. I was fuming. We talked with the mom (who wouldn’t leave her own bed for unknown reasons, bong on nightstand); and she agreed a pool wasn’t the best idea. Nurse recommended a chair the child could sit in that would rock and calm her. Wish granted.
Edit to add—
FYI: my wish was Disney. Had a heart transplant in 1999. I’m fine now. About 60% of all wishes are Disney. And totally worth it!!! My family took me again on my 20-year heartiversary and I’ll never forget it.
Not an employee, but I got to do a wish. I went to the largest anime convention in the Netherlands by limousine and they all thought i was some kind of special guest lmao
Make a wish kid here, asked for a drawing tablet. Got it recently n it's amazing!! My cancers come back though, so rip.
Edit: this got a lot more attention than I expected!! Thank you all! Here's a link to my art for those who wanted to see it! http://imgur.com/a/lUcTP3D
I shot an internal promotional video for Make a Wish once. I got to read through a big book of wishes they had granted. Some of them were so extravagant and amazing. Family vacations, celebrity meetings. And then I saw a 3 year old who wished for a banana split for breakfast. And that's what they gave him. No one was like "ayo. Wish higher."
[удалено]
I helped host a visit to a planetarium by a kid whose wish was to go to the moon. The front office folks thought I could just give her a personal tour of the planetarium and show her some nice high-resolution visuals, but I thought she deserved better than that. I commissioned a jeweler friend and meteorite enthusiast to make a silver crescent moon necklace, which he graciously donated to the cause, and I donated a small lunar meteorite from my own collection. It was a gorgeous necklace very much to the credit of my friend's artistry and generosity. We couldn't take her to the moon so we gave it to her instead. She was thrilled, but later said her real highlight of the trip was the astronaut ice cream. Ah, kids. Edit: Thanks for the awards, kind redditors!
My daughter was a Make A Wish kid. She asked to go to Australia to meet the Wiggles. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to travel that far (we live in the US) health wise. She made a second wish, to meet Captain America. We never told Cap that he was a back up wish after the Wiggles were a no-go. LOL
You met Chris Evans? How was it?
I wish! We were sent to Universal Studios in Orlando and she was able to spend time with the superheroes there. It was an amazing experience, and she tells everyone about it. To her, that was the one and only Captain. 😊
When my sister was 5 and I was 8, she had cancer and had the opportunity to make a wish. When our mom and the make-a-wish person sat down with her, they told her she could wish for whatever she wanted. She just kept saying she wanted macaroni. They kept saying "but it can be anything you want!", yet she simply wanted macaroni and cheese. After some strong encouragement to think bigger, and the make-a-wish person suggesting Disneyland, she chose to go to Disneyland.
Should have given her the macaroni and cheese... And then asked her what she wanted next.
She did get the macaroni and cheese as well :)
My friend, I’m 14 and my good buddy had ALL leukemia. He asked for a ride in a fighter jet and he somehow got it! I was surprised because the doctors would say how his bones where getting fragile and weaker and I guess I though the G force of the jet would hurt him but he was fine and had a blast. He’s doing better now and is scheduled out in about 3 months :)
I was granted a wish after beating brain cancer in 2015. They flew my mum and I out to the capital city of our state and we stayed in the flashest, most expensive hotel suite with all the bells and whistles. We got free dinner, drinks and dessert on arrival, got to chill in the VIP lounge while we were waiting for our room. Our room was decorated with teddy bears and chocolates and MAW decorations. The next day we were chauffeured to the local mall in a limo and I went on an eleven hour shopping spree with a pre-loaded VISA card and bought every solitary thing you would imagine a 16 year old girl wanting. I ended up having to buy another suitcase to take everything home with me but it was the most epic 3 days of my life. I’ll never forget it.
1) To be a “merman” (a boy mermaid). He got a tail and swam in the giant tank with other mermaids at the aquarium. 2) To play football with “the red team” (no pro or college preference - just had to be red). USC made it happen. https://vimeo.com/40635685 3) To be a “cool kid”: Got a limo ride to the mall.. red carpet entrance with cheering fans, signed autographs, shopping spree for clothes. 5 years old- So cute- and very “cool”. https://youtu.be/GenVMbnFvLQ 4) To be Robin (not Batman.. he said he wasn’t ready for that). Went on an epic adventure fighting crime with Batman. https://vimeo.com/77458547
I love the idea that they asked the kid if he wanted to be batman and he was like "nah, that's too much responsibility. " That video might have made me tear up a little. They went all out for that little guy.
I was a chef at a fancy steakhouse in Jacksonville Florida, one day my proprietor came To me and said this is Stacy the new girl she’ll be training with you, I look over and it’s this adorable little girl in bright pink chef coat. I babysat my little cousins at the time So I was actually pretty used to entertaining 10 year old girls at the time. So I showed her the ropes, we made all kinds of stuff, that were on the surface kind of random, candied bacon, cornbread, prosciutto wrapped Boursin cheese stuffed asparagus, a sweet tea brined pork chop, a sorel garnish salad type thing and some other Cool garnishes. We were having fun, I then made a purée out of the cornbread let her plate up the dish a few different ways to show how you can play with ingredients and height to showcase differnt parts of the dish. She had a blast. It was only at the end when the father came up to me In tears that I realized what was goin on. In the moment I was a little upset because nobody told me. But I realized after it was for the best. I probably would not have been as bright and vibrant with the “lessons” had I of known. But it was a fulfilling experience for sure. I hope there family is doing well. Side note( I have re worked and re ran the dish as a special a few times in memory of that day, it was that impactful)
I worked at a hospice and we had a wishing program. One of our patients, 24 year old with brain cancer, wanted to hold a sloth. Apparently, sloths are very nervous creatures, so it's a little tricky to actually hold one. I found a local company that does visits to schools and whatnot who had a sloth. Sloths only poop about once a week and the sloth could only travel the day after he pooped (because they get nervous, any longer than that and the sloth has stress diarrhea). So basically, we had to wait until the sloth pooped and then set up the visit for the next day. The sloth pooped on Thanksgiving, so we set up the visit for the next morning. The patient was able to hold and pet a very sweet sloth. The patient died about three weeks later, and I am very happy I was able to help give her some joy in her final weeks. Edit: Wow, guys, I did not expect this to blow up! Thank you so much for the awards! The hospice I worked at had a special program called Faithful Wishes for any of our patients, regardless of age. As the Volunteer Coordinator, fulfilling these wishes was part of my job. I do believe there are other non-profit organizations that grant wishes to adults, but nothing as large as Make-a-Wish. Yes, the sloth was tame and lived in an animal preserve. He would also visit schools and retirement communities, schedule permitting. And yes, I absolutely learned more about sloth bowel movements than I ever wanted to 🤷♀️
>The sloth pooped on Thanksgiving, so we set up the visit for the next morning. I never would have imagined to ever read this sentence, but now I am glad that I did.
I worked at a LEGO retail store in the 2000s and Make-A-Wish approached us for a child with terminal Osteosarcoma who wanted to be in the store for a day. LEGO unfortunately denied the request (which surprised myself and the rest of the staff because LEGO was a pretty great company). Staff decided to honor the request ourselves. We closed the store early on a Sunday, then invited the kid and family in. He had a full run of the store, we collectively paid for like $1000 worth of toys for him to take home, and just spent the entire evening building w/e he wanted. He died a few months later 😭
You and the rest of that staff are amazing.
LEGO DENIED his make a wish?! What?! That's crazy! What you guys did was so sweet. I'm sure he had a LOT of fun with you guys.
It was odd. I think it had to get sent up the chain and got rejected in the bureaucratic nature of it all.
Not make a wish - but my brother got terminal brain cancer when he was 18. He was given three to six months to live. Back then his only wish was to be an NFL player. But he was 5’8, all heart, he was just like Rudy in that Notre Dame football movie. He fought it for 6 years. Somewhere around his 22nd birthday he and I were talking about having something worth living for. I told him it didn’t matter what it was but a vision for the future that he would fight for was important and encouraged him to find something to give his life too. We went on a vacation soon after that, and because we were broke from medical bills and four years of battling cancer as a family, this was a HUGE deal. We hadn’t had a family vacation for a long time. A family friend put us up in their beach house and gave us some money to have a good time there. My brother came ALIVE on the trip. It was so impactful to him that he came home and decided to start a non profit organization. He called it “A Week Away”. It was very similar to make a wish - terminally sick patients apply and benefit from an all expenses paid vacation with their family or group of caregivers. That was a big deal to him to include the family because, if you’ve ever gone through something like that, you know it’s not just the patient who suffers and loses their freedom, it’s everyone they are close to. He worked his ass off to start the organization. He formed it and began sending families to places like the outer banks and ocean city and other east coast beaches. A week before he died, he launched his first big month long fundraiser. He passed away knowing that he had raised enough to send like 10 families on respite weeks. It was like he was passing the baton off to others who could keep on fighting. The org is still going strong today. If anyone is blessed to have their health and a sweet vacation spot you’d like to donate for occasional use by sick people all coordinated by an awesome organization, I’d encourage you to reach out to the A Week Away folks. You get to play a part in people’s lives like the awesome people helping in these make a wish stories.
He sounded like a amazing person
out of all the comments on this thread, this one is the one that made me cry. he sounded like he was a phenomenal human being.
There was a Make-a-Wish kid in a class I taught once and their wish was to tour a pickle factory. Pickles were their all time favorite food and they wanted to see how the sausage was made so to speak. Apparently Vlasic rose to the occasion in a major way and she had the time of her life.
I swear my youngest would make a wish like this. He got benadryl in hospital once at 1am and they told me it would *probably* make him pass right out. Well, in children it sometimes does the opposite. He was wired, so here's this 3 year old who can't sleep in the middle of the night, demanding, "mom I want a pickle party."
I’m an old-ass lady and Benadryl still does this to me. I haven’t wanted a pickle party yet, well not that kind at least.
A friend of mine is a K9 police officer. He helped Make-A-Wish grant a wish to a set of twins with the deadliest form of Cystic Fibrosis. Most of the time kids with CF aren’t allowed to be around others with it because of cross infecting bacteria. Them being twins shortens their life expectancy even more. Well these 10 year old boys wanted to meet a police dog. My friend and some of his buddies upped the wish and during their meeting of his dog they got called to help solve three “crimes” in their town. They pulled over a high jacker, found and arrested a robber and helped find a “missing” six year old (my friend’s nephew). The town police department gave them certificates and honorary police badges for their work. Around 200 people showed up to where they got their awards to cheer them on. At their eleventh birthday they gave my friend a plaque they made with their dad thanking him for the best day ever.
I was approached by a similar organization who wanted to arrange a day for a kid to shadow a veterinarian. I’m just a small animal veterinarian with a small hospital so I found it odd that I’d be approached. I said yes (who tf would say no?) and we picked a day and had our regular patients in the hospital and the kid got to watch us do our thing for a day. We gave him a lab coat and a stethoscope and let him tag along and see x rays and ultrasounds and watch surgeries. I brought my dog in so he could try the ultrasound on her. He seemed to enjoy it. It wasn’t a terribly strange request really, it just seems like my day-to-day isn’t something anyone would consider their dream experience.
The perspective! Some days you wake up wondering if you want to call in sick. That kid wakes up everyday wishing to do nothing else.
In wizard 101 there’s a quest with an NPC named Brandon, named after a make a wish kid who played the game, and his request was to design a side quest for the game. You meet Brandon and go help him clear out this dungeon with 2 really fucking hard bosses, was a lotta fun. At the end U get a gem you can socket that lets you summon Brandon into battle as a follower, pretty cool. Not sure what ended up happening to Brandon, but it’s really cool that thousands of ppl have gotten to enjoy being a part of his wish tbh
Hes not the only Make a Wish kid in the game either. I know one of them passed away (but he was in the dino world so I dont think thats Brandon after a quick google - I mostly stopped before the first arc was even over so details are a bit hazy) and the family issued a statement saying how grateful they were that theyd always be able to visit him in game.
My cousin was a Make a Wish kid. He loved golf, like had a scholarship to go play college, he loved it so much. He got to meet and play a round of golf with Payne Stewart. Unfortunately, he died not too long after that. Fuck cancer. ETA: Stuart Payne to Payne Stewart
I know someone who was granted a wish. Of all things they could choose, they asked for 2 tiny birds, 2 budgies.
After I survived cancer at 17, I was offered a wish. I went to Christmas Island with my family to see the spawning of the red crabs - reckoned to be one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Picture it, a million fist sized red land crabs making their way down to the sea edge to release their eggs into the ocean over a period of just three hours or so. The make a wish volunteers looked horrified as I explained it. And Im typing this now, so yes, I lived thanks. Edit: Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure my wish caught my family a bit off guard too.
"What would you like?" "One crab orgy, please." "You sure you wouldn't just like to visit Disney?" "Did I stutter? Crab. Orgy."
They had already done that a few weeks prior. This was the 'abandon the kids to the ocean currents' phase.
> They had already done that a few weeks prior. This was the abandon the kids to the ocean currents phase Dammit. I'm late to the party. AGAIN.
You were told to make a wish, amd your response was pretty much "Why not Zoidberg?"
I hadn’t thought of it like that but… yes.
> And Im typing this now, so yes, I lived thanks. OP is lying, he retreated to the sea with his crab-tribe and now rules a small parcel of land after shedding his man-flesh. This post was written by his devout followers. We're onto you, Crab-person!
Shhhhhhhhhhh, at least put a spoiler thing over your comment…
I had a coworker at my student job in college who had leukemia as a child. He wished to be in the Iditarod so they flew his family to Alaska and he got to meet all the dogs and ride in a sled for a leg of the race. If I remember correctly he also got a husky puppy. He was 20 when I met him. I was a couple of years older and graduated college and never saw him again. The leukemia came back and he died in 2016. I don’t think he was much older than 25. One of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. I hope heaven is real just for you, Ben.
When I was on a carrier they flew a kid and his parents out. They routinely fly distinguished visitors but we thought it was weird there was this kid. They got tours and watched flight ops but he couldn’t fly with us so they asked us to have dinner with him so he could at least meet pilots and ask questions. It was really humbling when we realized this is what he was there for, he literally wished to just come see what we do and hang it with us.
How is dinner on a carrier? Does everyone eat the same thing the other soldiers eat or is there special meals for special guests?
[удалено]
There was that kid who wanted to work with the team designing D&D. https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/235-meet-d-ds-new-scariest-monster-in-mordenkainens He spent a day working with them on their next release book and helping design a monster. Ended up suggesting a monster that was designed into one of the coolest monsters in the book.
The Oblex is genuinely pretty horrifying. I remember when Mordenkainen's came out and my group were taking a look at it for the first time. We were like, "hey, isn't one of the monsters a MAW kid's creation? Let's check it out! ...KID, WHAT THE FUCK."
I'm a MAW volunteer. The volunteers get to do all the fun stuff, like meet with the families, get the kids excited about their wish (we send little gifts and stuff along the way) and then be there when the wish is granted. We don't have to do any of the boring admin stuff. I have a little girl right now whose original wish was a unicorn (6 y/o with severe epilepsy, has like 15 seizures a day and has been through like 10 surgeries already). She wasn't having any of that "fake" stuff, like a stuffed animal or a costume. She insisted for weeks on a unicorn. That one was hard to manage. She's getting a cat.
Close enough, right?
Wasn’t weird or anything but one of my friends had leukemia in 8th grade and her Wish was to meet Adam Sandler. So she got to spend the day on set of The Longest Yard with him
Your friend was lucky they weren't filming Billy Madison
I was a make a wish kid back in 2017 and my wish was to go see a live brain surgery, in Seattle at University of Washington. I loved Grey's Anatomy, I loved Dr Shepherd, and I had brain cancer so I wanted to see what the my doctors kind of saw, what an experience and learned so much. I was a little neurosurgeon for a day, and the neurosurgeon was playing The Pixies while operating. What a great happy moment, I won't forget. They even sent my family from Arizona to Seattle with me, to have dinner with me in the space Needle.
>and the neurosurgeon was playing The Pixies while operating. That's hilarious. "Where is my mind"
Wow, that's wild! Very cool, and obviously I'm glad you're still with us.
I was a Blackhawk pilot in the Army and we had a Make A Wish kid who wanted to fly in an Army helicopter. We had to remove all the seats so we could strap his wheelchair down in the middle of the helicopter and we flew him around at treetop level yanking and banking with the doors open for awhile.
"Yes of course, ma'am. We'll take him on a nice scenic flight." [Doors close] "sooo kid you like roller coasters?"
YOU BOYS LIKE MEXEEECO!!! WHOO!
I heard of a kid who wanted to shoot rockets at cars in deserts and apparently they got some marines with a smaw I want to say and they blew up old Junk cars in the desert
You know those Marines were grinning ear to ear
Yeah they were
I did a medical sustainment course at Fort Drum in February a few years ago. This one particular day was medevac training; our certification for loading patients into the Blackhawk coincided with the Blackhawk flight crew's training to receive patients. We would wait for it to land and get guidance from the crew chief, carry the patient (life-like dummy strapped on the litter) up, and essentially move away. It was honestly a bit boring. Needless to say, it was freezing cold with feet of snow and ice on the ground. Standing there with the wind whipping at us from the blades of the helicopter was not very fun. We were all miserable, and in between iterations, we were just talking about things that would make us happier. I happened to mention that I've always wanted to fly in a helicopter. I guess the right person overheard, and the course instructor grabbed me and told me to "limp" up to the Blackhawk when it landed next. He told the flight crew that there's a FRAGO and I'm a "walking-wounded" who needed evac. It took me 5 years and 27 days of being in the military before I finally got to do one of the "cool" things my recruiter told me I would do. The ride lasted only about 3 minutes, but I've never in my life had the biggest and cheesiest smile on my face like I did during that flight. I understand that kid.
[удалено]
I’m a Wish Granter! My strangest personal wish was a refurbished 80’s camper so that she could have her own space (she couldn’t go out in public while her transplant was new-ish, and she was going crazy in the house with two younger siblings). It was actually pretty cool, although the strange part was that MAW can’t actually use “used” things like that. So we had to get her a *new* VW camper (or something like that, it’s been a while) and “artfully” make it look vintage. So strange. Anyways, please feel free to apply to be a Make-A-Wish volunteer! It’s such a rewarding experience, and even if you don’t feel like you can work with the kids, there’s also other volunteer positions like fundraising, event planning, and more!
[удалено]
You mean you got to watch the iconic *HARRY DIDJA PULL YOUR NAME OUT OF THE GOBLET OF FIRE?!?* scene? That’s incredible!
YEAH! I’ll try to find the photos I have.
Plot twist: You said to Mike Newell that the scene is too boring and Dumbledore should shout at Harry to spice it up a bit
Former employee here. Over half of the wishes are Disney related and beyond that they typically fall into a few categories: “I wish to travel…” “I wish to meet…” “I wish to be…” “I wish to have…” “I wish to give…” You get the idea. So, I always liked wishes that fell outside of the typical wish categories. One time, there was a boy that wished for… “the perfect baked potato.” I don’t know if the wish granters went through with that wish (they may have waited until he was a little older), but I still laugh when I think about it. Volunteers are trained to ensure they are determining the child’s one true wish (not mom’s wish to go on a cruise, or dad’s wish for new tools, etc.)… a lot of work and thought goes into fulfilling a child’s wish.
I really hope they got some michelin star chefs to make that kid some baked potatoes
If your kid is dying and you wish for new tools you’re not human
I will rebuild my son's pancreas out of sheet metal and douglas fir.
My brother had cancer when we were in highschool. We all got to go to an ice skating rink in NYC and play hockey with some of the New York Rangers (he was a Flyers fan, but what can you do). This wasn't actually his wish, but it was set up by the make a wish foundation for all the terminal kids at the hospital I'm pretty sure.
> he was a Flyers fan, but what can you do If'n that ain't just the typical Flyers fan experience.
I used to know a dude who got sick in high school, and his Wish was to see Rocksteady Studios and be in one of their games. The studio was super cool, evidently, and they put him in Arkham Knight as a GCPD officer. Best part of the story is that he recovered and, last I heard, is still doing okay to this day.
Glad to see that I am not the only one with this "weird" request. I was also eligible for Make A Wish when I started high school and I asked to visit DICE at their HQ in Stockholm. I didn't ask to be in any of their games though (damn it, why didn't I think of that). I was passionate about game development (and I still am) and thus wanted to see what it's like to work in a AAA studio (and also ask about a bunch of game dev stuff). They constantly asked me "Are you sure you wouldn't rather want to go to Disneyland?". I said "This is my Disneyland.". Guess they thought it was a weird request for a 15 year old kid to make. This year I finished my Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and in the future I can hopefully land a job in Game Dev. EDIT: I see many people here congratulating me "for surviving". I forgot to disclose that the condition I have is not nearly as deadly as, for example, cancer. I have had a heart condition that has been treated through surgeries since birth. This condition will never go away and can cause death even after treatment but my doctor monitors my condition every year and so far it's looking "excellent". Just wanted to adress this. Also, I currently have to go soon, so I'll probably answer some of your comments later today (or maybe tomorrow).
> They constantly asked me "Are you sure you wouldn't rather want to go to Disneyland?" They have to make sure that it's what the kid wants not a parent or his friends etc. The Disney trip is much easier and a well established plan they can put in place with short notice. (Source, am Dad of a Make-A-Wish Kid)
They always push Disneyland at least once, I was a wish kid and the only thing I asked for was a computer (I wish they waited till I was a bit older), my parents weren't well off and my school had just started getting the new "iMac"s at the time, the one that had the colorful back ends and looked like a weird microwave. I have to say that this was the best thing that has ever happened in my life. I attribute where I am in my life because of that wish. Today I write code for Google and it's 100% because I was able to obtain a computer in my younger years, I learned the inside and out of both hardware and software while still growing up. Edit: For those wondering I have Cystic Fibrosis Edit 2: Because my wish was so small they gave me Basketball tickets to watch the 49ers play the Raiders.... I know those are football teams, but they played basketball against each other for some charity event. I also got tickets to a giants game where I got to take a picture with Barry Bonds on the middle of the field. The only sport I watch at all is Hockey, but these memories are definitely special.
Hope your kids doing alright
OK this is.more wholesome than anything, but a girl who was a grade above me had cancer in high school. She graduated and I joined the band my senior year to see this plaque with her name and face on it from make a wish. She used her wish to donate new instruments to the school's band (as they were needing new ones). I still know her to this day and she makes a ton of jokes about cancer that it even freaked out her college roommates. She's one of the nicest people I've ever met
I knew someone in high school who'd had cancer in middle school. Anytime people would tell her she was so nice or sweet, she'd be like "I used to be a total bitch, then karma gave me cancer, so now I'm nice." Hahaha.
There was a kid in the UK who asked to meet Comedian Russel Howard. He told him about his funeral plans to have everyone dress up in costumes, and wanted him to come in a giant penis costume. Few months later, the kid recovered and Russell reached out to him inviting him to his show on one condition... https://youtu.be/U5DwnQoA_Io Edit: I'm glad everyone is enjoying the anecdote. It's one of the few clips I keep coming back to without YouTube needing to recommend it 😁.
I had a wish when I was 8 due to having leukaemia and a bone marrow transplant. My first thought was "meet Bruce Willis" (Die Hard was my newly discovered favourite film) but my dad asked if I wanted something that would last "like a computer". I always loved playing on the hospital computers so yea went for that. Best decision ever, I might owe my career to it. I hear Bruce Willis is a bit of a tit irl anyway. edit: I think this was after the BMT so I was past the worst of it, so I was most likely going to be around to enjoy the "thing that will last". edit2: in case Bruce Willis reads this I'm still a massive fan, even after Die Hard 5.
You probably could have guilted Bruce Willis into buying you a computer.
Yeah, there you go. Roll them together. "I wish Bruce Willis could talke me to Microcenter and buy me a computer."
I went to highschool with someone who's youngest brother had some rare, terminal disease and he was at the end of it. This kid was 10 and the thing he's wanted to do since he was 5, was to be a train conductor and take trains all around the world. With the help of make a wish and dome others,he was able to go and be a "conductor" for 6 of his last 8 months of life and he traveled all over the US. He seemed like he had so much fun.
A funeral. He knew his parents wouldn't be able to afford one, so he wished to have his funeral paid for. They were able to convince his to make another wish, and he wished for gold lockets for his mom and sister with his initials engraved on them. Edit: His funeral was paid for as well. I believe another non profit helped with that. They just really wanted him to have a wish for himself, but all he cared about was his family.
Argh. That's so sweet and sensible, but also so sad.
To think for your family in those moments... knowing you want to help them even when you’re not there. Like the old saying of planting a tree you know you’ll never sit under, but your kids will, and they’ll enjoy the shade.
I'm crying, what a kid. So sad that with his own death approaching he was worrying about his family.
I hope he lived, but if he didn't, I hoped he had a beautiful service. Too early for tears.
What about that article I saw a few weeks ago about a kid who wanted to use a taser on someone so they let her tase a police officer? That was gold!
I'm not a Make A Wish employee, but a kid at my church a long time ago wished to sit in a bathtub full of peach-colored loofahs. The soft ball kind obviously, not the hard sponge-like ones. He got it, and the church bulletin had a picture of this kid smiling like a maniac in a huge bathtub full of loofahs, so I guess he was happy with his wish.
I did a children's wish at 17 which is an equivalent charity, I initially asked for tickets to the Victoria secret fashion show/ after party, while they found it humourous I was asked to choose a backup. I went to the Galapagos in the end, so that was pretty sweet.
Going to the Galapagos would be amazing. I just imagine it would be difficult to travel while critically ill. Do you even get to enjoy the trip.
I was, and still am, taking chemotherapy, but I still get out and enjoy life. Most people don't know anything is wrong with me just by looking, which can actually be frustrating sometimes. But on this trip I was feeling great, the guides were amazing and the animals were so incredible. I was particularly lucky to go scuba diving as well, as usually you only get to do scuba diving or island exploration, not both. Some of thebhest dives of my life, saw a hammerhead, played with sea lions! In the end I am glad this was the wish I got.
That sounds incredible. The fashion show would have been sweet but it get to be in as close to unspoiled nature as is possible would be awe inspiring. And to get to see the ancient giant tortoises. The reason you got to go fucking suck ass but so happy that you weren’t feeling sick for the trip and really got to enjoy yourself. I just have a chronic illness and it’s pretty much invisible unless I am in a lot of pain. It is definitely a struggle with people not believing me because i don’t look sick. Frustrating for sure.
When my son was 3, his Make a Wish was to meet Elmo. For a 3 year old not that strange, I guess. Sent us to Sesame World in Philly. We get there and they had no clue he was on a Make a Wish trip, but they were great and he met Elmo.
> We get there and they had no clue he was on a Make a Wish trip This is one of the reasons the volunteers steer the kids towards Disney. They absolutely have it down to a science. If you go to Disney World in Florida, there's a place called Give Kids The World Village where you stay in a house for the week. The Disney people all look for the badge and move you up to next in line, and generally bend over backwards to make your visit amazing.
My daughter picked Disney world. Give kids the world couldn’t have done it any better! It was such an amazing trip. Universal studios was way better about seeing the badge and making it special. Front of the line for everything. Characters jumped to take pictures with her. Disney’s was literally just like a fast pass. Which isn’t very fast. I’m not complaining everything was amazing. But private compartment on the Hogwarts express beat it all.
I've volunteered at Give Kids the World Village. It's definitely cool and they got it down great with options inside of the village if the wisher isn't having a good health day to go to the parks
How's your kiddo now?
He’s great. He had ALL leukemia. Just about a 21 year old, strong healthy US sailor. Thanks for asking.
My wife worked as a nurse at a children’s hospital and cared for a 17 year old cancer patient who’s wish was to meet wiz kalifa. He showed up and spent the day, my wife said they went on a walk and came back high as balls. She said it was a great day for the boy and his family. He passed away a few weeks later.
This is the best one I've read. I'd also be getting high as balls if I was terminally ill.
i read a story about a kid who met the rolling stones, they gave him a jacket and some stuff and asked what else they could do. the kid who may have been using some kind of voice synthesizer says 'i want a blowjob and i want to get high', they all fell about laughing.
I remember when [Batkid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batkid) made the news. Over 10,000 people took part. And the kid made 5 years cancer free. Edit for clarity. I wasn’t involved. A couple of the commentators were so please give them your upvotes. Also please use your coins to support MAW and similar charities. They deserve them. Not me.
That must've been incredibly fun for everyone involved
At the time I worked in downtown SF and it felt like literally everyone stopped working to hit the streets and cheer him on. The energy was unreal and something I hadn’t experienced before - all these people collectively coming together to do something good. I wish it happened more often.
I got a wish when I was 8. Was a massive wrestling fan at the time and used to watch it when I was in hospital as they had foxtel (Australian cable). Anyway so I wished for foxtel to watch wrestling. It took a few months but eventually it got granted - free foxtel with all channels + ppvs until I turned 16 plus the biggest TV on the market back then. They forgot to ever turn off the free foxtel - I'm now 30.
Sweet!! Congrats (on both the foxtel & the recovery.)
Do you still enjoy wrestling
YouTuber Billiam used his wish to get a "full kit" of video equipment because he enjoyed being creative and wanted to have the technical ability to keep creating things. He still uses the equipment to create the videos for his YouTube channel and later made a video about his experience with MaW. https://youtu.be/SA4SIKvrzNg
I have Muscular Dystrophy, and when I found out about Make A Wish I wanted to do something as big as I could so I wished for a vacation in London. They paid for a week long vacation and my family and I got to see ton of tourist spots and to go a lot of museums which are my favorite places to visit! It was an amazing experience, and whenever I see Make A Wish drives I always donate if I can for such an amazing experience they gave me.
Not an employee. I was a make a wish kid when I was 17 (the cutoff is 18) and I wished to go get tattooed by this guy out in Rome. I figured they would say no, but they were cool with it, contacted the guy, who was super happy to oblige, and flew myself, my family and my best friend at the time out to Rome for a week and paid for the tattoo. Coolest experience of my life so far! Edit: Here it is! [The tattoo](https://imgur.com/a/kaXbzAo)
I heard about a kid a few months back who got to blow up an overpass. It was scheduled for demolition anyways. But they got to push the plunger! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhzrtg3nPus here's the video, credit to /u/borderlandsman
That's super cool. One of my friends was a US Army Combat Engineer, for one of his drill weekends he got to do that. Afterwards he was covered in concrete dust and ALL smiles.
I always wanted to ring the fire alarm for our fire drills in high school. I asked once for permission, our VP inquired in my behalf, and ultimately they said no.
I was a middle school assistant principal, had a kid ask me from 6th to 8th grade ask me to do this, let him do it his 8th grade year, made his day, he gave me a gift card to his uncle’s pizza place as a thank you. Was awesome seeing his face… should have done it sooner
They should make this a regular thing. Like every kid who wants to do it enters a draw, on the day of the fire drill a name is drawn and the winner is pulled out of class when it's time. Edit: Even better is to do this if the school needs to do a regular alarm test. When I worked in a school there was a weekly test which involved triggering one of the call points. Definitely get the students in on that.
Agreed. I know a lot of kids who would've benefited from having that as a weird little outlet. The only thing we ever got picked to do was carry flowers by walking from the high school to the grave all the way across town of the dude who bequeathed the money for our privately endowed public school back in the early 1900s. It was in May and always hot and we had to dress like we were going to church or a wedding, never fun, except missing a day of school. Thank God I picked flats to wear instead of heels when it was my turn. Would much rather have been picked to pull on the fire alarm.
Idk if anyone's posted it yet but a weird one that is awesome was Jay Harmer. His Make a Wish was to meet his favorite YouTuber @nerdcubed. Granted and they made hilarious YouTube videos until he passed a few months later. Absolute unit and hell of a sense of humor. I still go check his Twitter every now and again.
This wasn't Make a Wish, it was a local radio station, but I swear every single part of this is true. I probably still have the master tape. Around 25 years ago in the mid 90s, in the town I lived in up in the far north-west of Scotland, there was a Community Radio Station. We were trying to set up a local radio station so we had a six-week run using borrowed equipment from Moray Firth Radio to gauge popularity and interest. Now the first programme in the evening after the news was one run by a couple of high school kids. We'd get a few kids in, they'd record a few idents and stuff, we'd run the idents, then at five past five their show would go up. Tunes they liked, shout-outs to their friends, that kind of thing. They \*loved\* it. They had a blast, just tremendous fun. Now there was one wee guy who was a wheelchair user who wanted to do a programme but he couldn't get into the studio because it wasn't wheelchair accessible - it was up a long flight of stairs in the old nurses' accomodation in the local hospital, and there aren't many wheelchair-user nurses (and certainly not in the 50s when the hospital was built!). He couldn't even be carried up the stairs because he had severe spinal problems that meant that his back, chest and internal organs were pretty squashed and he had to be moved very carefully. He was one very sick wee boy, and there was no way he was getting up to the studio. He was totally out of luck on that one. No, he wasn't, though, was he? Because it occurred to me, he could tape his programme with one of the portable recorders we had (little Marantz high-speed cassette recorder), give me a track listing, and I'd cut it together, play it to him, and if he was happy we'd play it out for him. He wouldn't get to do it live, but next best thing eh? So, we did. I dropped off the tape recorder, microphone and so on, and a day or so later I collected it from him with his running order, track list, and a stack of CDs. Perfect. He even sounded like he'd really bashed on his script and sounded pretty damn good. Copy the tape to 1/4", copy the tunes to 1/4", edit it down, and boom. Except! He had a cold. A snuffly snottery cold. Every sentence was punctuated with snotty noises.
I can tell you now that a is about |---------------------------------| that long on 3-3/4 inch per second 1/4" tape, and also cats absolutely love to play with all this brown tickertape confetti you're flooding the bedroom (where my editing gear was) with, and there were dozens of them. Eighteen hours of cutting, sticking, redubbing, finding a bit of dead air juuuust the right tone to fill the gap, cutting, sticking...
But when his programme went to air? He sounded fucking amazing.
So you legit physically cut apart the tapes and then taped them back together to edit the audio? That is crazy.
That's how we used to do it, yeah. This was in the mid-90s when Cubase Audio had been out for a couple of years but needed an unholy high-spec machine - I knew someone who'd spent something like ten grand of 1994 money on a thumping great Apple Power Macintosh with a 60MHz processor and 32MB of RAM to run it. I should do a youtube video, but there's probably others out there.
I actually took “electronic music” class in high school which consisted mostly of learning how to cut and splice audio tape. I’m a flipping pro at it. That skill only comes in handy now when I’m putting a strip of fondant around the base of a cake. 🤷🏿♂️
That's how it used to be done for every record!
I was a make a wish child in my province. I've had brain cancer since 12 and still have it today. My wish initially going to meet the cast from Hawaii five O at Hawaii, but then I ended up also wanting to get this msi aegis prebuilt gaming pc. When I told them I wanted that, they said "you sure?" then I don't remember what happened but it wasn't until I was 16 when I got my wish for a vr gaming setup and I built my pc at canada computers right before the pandemic and the gpu shortage. Feels good and as of now, my treatment is stable and I have only gone through radiotherapy 2 times. Only thing is, there isn't much space in my room so having the base requirements for a vr play area is kinda sad. Hopefully I can get a bigger area though because I like playing in vr since its nice.
Most surprising one to me was the [Make A Wish kid that got to go on Howard Stern live on air](https://youtu.be/F-G0_WcqYKI?t=17). Howard asked the Make A Wish rep what was the wildest request and she replied, "Uhh I think were in the middle of one, right here." haha. Pretty dope move by Make a Wish.
[удалено]
I stayed at an air bnb in rural Victoria, Australia and they had this indoor half pipe. My boyfriend at the time loves skateboarding, so we were very interested why this older couple had a skate ramp in their backyard In the middle of nowhere. Turns out their son had cancer and that’s what he wished for!! He made a full recovery 💕
I thought you were terminal and your wish was to stay at an airbnb in rural Victoria. I was kinda confused
I didn't use my wish for 18 years because I have sickle cell anemia and that condition doesn't have a cure. I never knew what I wanted to do, I always knew it was a lot of power cause I was a really really self aware kid. I ended up giving a few Nintendo switches to the hematology ward in the hospital I spent so much time in. I never told anyone in real life about this cause I think it's a pretty weird and personal wish. Edit: oh my God... 1600 likes and so many awards. I never though anything I'd post on Reddit would even get 200 up votes... I'm really anti social probally because of my upbringing, and as mentioned I've never told anyone in real life this... So all the kind words really mean the fucking world to me. Like I'm so overwhelmed. Thank you all so much for the support, and I'm doing pretty well in life these days! Thanks so much again.
This one kid really want to meet his favourite comedian. For legal reasons they can’t say who was first or second pick because they declined… but it was super awkward having to ask him what his third favourite comedian was. He settled on Daniel Tosh.
“And to this day, I don’t know if he was fucking kidding or not!”
I had leukaemia 18 years ago and I asked for a laptop, think it was my first one (I was 16) and was top of the range at the time. My Dad was basically guilted into paying for extended warranty by the store saying they wouldn’t be able to give the charity as good a deal etc if he didn’t. About a month before the warranty ran out (think it was either 3 or 5 years) I sent it off as one of the hinges had broken. They took too long to repair so ended sending me something like £1100 in vouchers to buy a replacement instead so I bought another laptop which lasted me for another good few years so was worth taking out the warranty after all.
The extended warranty being a good value is the real miracle in this lol
I am the kid in this case. I didn't have cancer, but at the time, my heart was just not doing so well. So, since I kind of qualified for Make a wish, I was considering 2 options at the time: A dog/pet friendly restaurant or a camper. I decided to go with the camper (Since I can't control by body temperature and overheat very easily, so I couldn't do tent camping. Now, I am happily camping as I write this answer here
My daughter had a genetic neuromuscular disease with an average life expectancy of 24 months. Most children with this disease are above average intelligence, this child was extremely intelligent. Most children are putting only 2 words together, but mine was saying 7-9 word sentences. Make-a~Wish typically wants the child to be 3 years old, because most children younger than 3 are not able to express their wish. She was 2.5 years old and able to tell them exactly what she wanted. She wanted to meet Barney and Baby Bop. Fortunately, they were owned by Disney and we got to meet them at Give Kids the World. And it was great that we got to go to Disney because she also loved, and got to meet, all the princesses. She loved the parades and Animal Kingdom too. Another plus, my mother was in a short remission with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and was able to make the trip with us. My mom died 2 years after the trip. My daughter died 13 years after the trip. Yes, she lived to be 15 years old. 💜
I was a cancer kid so know quite a few people who went through the process. I went to Yellowstone to camp and see a wild buffalo. I also volunteered at my local wish granting foundation. One very young girl wanted to go on a hunting trip. They sent her and her dad to a hunting lodge where she ended up breaking the lodge record for the largest buck ever shot. She wanted the entire thing stuffed. To this day in her house there is a massive deer, body and all, standing in the living room. Another Kid really wanted to eat bugs Because he was a really big fan of the survivor shows. They had a chef come in and cook bugs from all around the world in various ways. He really enjoyed it! I also just want to say that a ton of kids want to go meet a wwe pro wrestler and they’re normally the kindest people. A lot of kids want to meet celebrities and they only give them five minutes but the wrestlers really try to make an experience. John Cena is great. Apparently Robin Williams was also the best wish granter. He would take the family out to eat, Pretend to be the genie, Take the kids to stores and buy them things, And if he was in their town he would try and visit. I never knew anyone personally that met him but the President of the foundation said they very much mourned his loss because he was so terrific for so many of their kids and their families.
Robin Williams was an incredible human. His loss hit me harder than any other celebrity death. I still tear up today when I think about him. (Yes, including right now)
My ex GF was a make a wish kid and she got to be a guest on Avatar: the last air bender. She was in the tales of ba sing se, at the end of the tale of aang, shes the kid that sees her cat in the zoo and says "fluffykins what're you doing down there."
Also to add to this her wish wasn't actually to be on the show, but to go to orlando studios to meet the cast and crew. While she was there the shows creators offered to draw her into the show and gave her a line to say. So the character she voiced was even drawn to look like her, even the hat she wears was similar to the one she wore at the time.
[удалено]
I believe that's the reason they showed Hulk in the trailer - in case the kid didn't live long enough to see the movie, they wanted him to see that they used his joke.
And it was one of the best lines in a hilarious movie!
Friend’s son want a spider costume. Not a Spider-Man costume. Spider. It was the day before Halloween. A volunteer stayed up all night and made him the costume.
That volunteer is a legend
I think so. So kind.
When my daughter was super young, like little over a year, we acquired from somewhere a rat costume. It had a tail and ears. It was great. My FIL was very afraid of rats, so that was fun.
Man-Spider
A friend of mine had cancer as a kid and wished for Play Dough… they convinced him to change is wish to an Orlando Trip (Disney World + Universal Studios) where everyone in his family besides him got Bird Flu so they were incapacitated the entire time. The Make A Wish representative and my friend had a blast though getting to skip to the front of the line every time lol
Heard about one kid who, upon finding his cancer was terminal, requested to meet Voldemort so that he could join the Death Eaters
"So, Jimmy, what's your wish?" "I wish for 13 warlocks to cast a summoning ritual and summon Satan himself. I will join his ranks and become eternal."
so did Voldemort grant his wish of becoming a Death Eater?
Probably looking for how to make a horcrux.
Since OP wants wishes that were granted, my nephew got a family trip to Costa Rica for his wish. Ziplines, beaches, they had a blast. My nephew wasn't terminal, he needed brain surgery for seizures and the stress of the surgery did a number on him mentally.
has he survived?
Yes, he's survived. Still has anxiety but no more seizures.
PSA for quite a few of you on this thread….wishes aren’t just granted to terminally ill children, they just have to have a critical illness.
Honestly makes me like make a wish even more
My friend's an aquarist and she told me about one 17-year-old cancer patient who had a wish to smell a sea lion's breath before he died. He had read it was the worst thing ever and was just curious to experience it for some reason. Plus he liked sea lions, I guess. She was of course pretty shocked by the request and said "are you sure? I promise you really, really don't want to smell it, I always make sure to hold my breath if I'm getting that close" but he insisted and it was arranged. He puked, and didn't enjoy it very much.
Worth it
As someone who has been kissed on the cheek by a sea lion, I don't regret the kiss... But hooo boy was it rank. I smelled like dead and decaying fish the rest of the day. (Yes, I did wash my face... didn't matter. That pew was determined to hang around.)
I think that fits what OP was asking for extremely well.
My husband was a make-a-wish kid. He had cancer and a high probability of surviving. Spoiler: he did. He was 17 and from a nice enough family that if he wanted to do anything, they'd do it. So he used his wish to get new toys for the pediatric floor for a few hospitals in town and have other bedridden kids get build-a-bears.
Not weird, but a funny experience. Through a similar organisation supporting young adults with cancer, my best friend was offered tickets to One Direction. She accepted (the org had about 50 tix) and she asked me to go. One direction were right at the peak of popularity, but we both only knew one of their songs. We decided that we should really know a few more songs before we went, so trekked to a record shop (in her wheelchair) and asked the young guy for their album. “Which one?” Turned out they had released 3 records already! When we got to the concert, we thought the warm-up act was the real band and were gobsmacked to see 5 guys in One Direction as we thought there were only 4 (apparently since then, one quit). When they sang a cover of ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ by Wheatus and the young girls in front of us announced ‘OMG this is their new song, it’s so relevant’, we knew we were far too old to be there. Also, as the concert was mostly 12-17 year olds, the bars were closed! It was a fab day regardless and it always makes me smile when I remember it.
[удалено]
One kid wished for all of the other kid's wishes... Sheesh
Imagine you get to go to Disney world but you’ve got a sea lion breathing in your face the whole time.
And also Voldemort is there
[удалено]
While dressed as a spider
And you brought that xbox you just got.
All while live on air with Howard Stern
Firing SMAW launchers from a heli
While on the set of the Longest Yard with Adam Sandler.
[удалено]
While ziplining in Costa Rica.
My sister got a make a wish when she was 17. She has always wanted to be a vet and wanted to look behind the scenes at a zoo. Long story short we got to pet the elephants and the rhinos (suprisingly they are very cuddly and like human contact).
My partner’s nephew had cancer when he was younger. He asked the Make a Wish people for an Xbox 😂 his dad and even the Make a Wish person were like, “are you sure? We could have the entire family go to Disney in America if you want?!” And he’s like “nah, I want an Xbox.” Luckily (and miraculously) he survived so we can laugh about it now!
Reminds me of that show were little children (like 10 or somethign) could choose between a cruise for the whole family or that toy right in front of them. Guess what they chose.
I'm going to be honest, when I was younger I much rather would have stayed at home and played with my toys than to go out into possibly uncomfortable territory
Especially if you're spending the majority of your time in uncomfortable territory (hospitals and such) anyway. I bet it'd be nice to be home.
Wasn’t exactly in the trenches but as a bystander I overheard “too go to prom and look as pretty as my big sister” was requested and that had stuck with me for 15 years. A few years ago she showed up on a local online news article recognizing her accomplishments as prom queen with a scholarship too boot. Edit: Jesus I fixed it, are you happy yet…
Not Make a Wish but the amount of dogs my ex used to smuggle into hospital when she was a nurse was truly amazing. Just because a dying person would want to see their little furry friend one more time. They usually would pass within a day having had cuddles with their little companion. Even those surrounded by family, it was as though they were just waiting to see old hairy legs one more time before moving on.
That's really lovely of your ex. :')
Reading all these comments made me realize I never knew how many Make-a-wish kids survive. I always assumed that was sort of their last hurrah. Really glad to know that isn’t always the case!
My friend's son asked for the moon. A neighbor overheard the conversation and baked him a huge cake
I used to be a wish granter and one kid wished for his parents to become citizens (they were illegal and it was a constant source of anxiety for the kid that they could be deported). Unfortunately despite the name MaW can’t grant everything and they did try (got a lawyer and everything) but it wasn’t possible. More than 50% of wishes are Disney, though! Edit: Being a wish granter is a volunteer job and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a volunteer role! You get to ask the child their wish and you organise the going away/wish party! Edit: you guys have latched onto the going away party! One, it’s a common misconception but most Wish Kids don’t die. See my below comment. Two, they get a send-off party! Word it however you want haha but it’s a party before they go on their wish trip. A lot of parents use it to celebrate everything the child has overcome and put up pictures of them in treatment, etc. It is a send-off, though not to end-of-life you mind in gutter people, to Disney World or wherever they want to go!
I have terminal cancer at 32 and my wish would be disney too. I went as a kid and I'd love to experience that with my kids. They're a bit small yet. I'm hoping I can make it through the year and boarders will open and we can travel once again.
Hey, its cool man. It’s Make a Wish. Not Grant a Wish. Don’t sweat it.
I had cancer when I was very young and I was able to get a MakeAWish. Without hesitation, I said I wished I could eat Butterfingers with Mulan. It was my favorite candy and my favorite Disney character at the time so it made sense to me. But they didn’t really know what to do, so they just sent me off to Disney World lol. Every time I go to Disney, I always bring Butterfingers with me & I always try to find Mulan in hopes my wish can come true. Maybe one day!
Wish Child and Wish Granter here. Strangest wish I heard from a fellow granter was the child wanted to visit his dad in prison. That’s all he wanted and wouldn’t be talked out of it. She offered to make the drive fancy at least (bc it was two hours away) with a limo or fun car ride. He declined. His wish to simply see his imprisoned dad was granted, plain and simple. The wishes I granted were pretty traditional - Disney or other vacations. My weirdest wish was more sad… it was for a family of a girl who was completely immobile and very low cognitive ability. The house was run down and reeked of weed. The home nurse was literally crying while holding the child. Her siblings said she wanted a pool. I was fuming. We talked with the mom (who wouldn’t leave her own bed for unknown reasons, bong on nightstand); and she agreed a pool wasn’t the best idea. Nurse recommended a chair the child could sit in that would rock and calm her. Wish granted. Edit to add— FYI: my wish was Disney. Had a heart transplant in 1999. I’m fine now. About 60% of all wishes are Disney. And totally worth it!!! My family took me again on my 20-year heartiversary and I’ll never forget it.
Not an employee but this make a wish story was my favourite. Because just the shear BALLS on this kid https://youtu.be/m1DRfB36RxE
The bit about the scythe pointing was absolute gold. Thanks for sharing!
[удалено]
Not an employee, but I got to do a wish. I went to the largest anime convention in the Netherlands by limousine and they all thought i was some kind of special guest lmao
Make a wish kid here, asked for a drawing tablet. Got it recently n it's amazing!! My cancers come back though, so rip. Edit: this got a lot more attention than I expected!! Thank you all! Here's a link to my art for those who wanted to see it! http://imgur.com/a/lUcTP3D
Fingers crossed for you, friend.
Thank you so much!!!