From John Cena to Home Gym: What a wish means to a Herts teen
Dashan was granted a wish after being diagnosed with a brain tumour aged 9
A Hertfordshire teenager is getting his (third) wish granted.
Today (29.04) marks World Wish Day, set up by the charity Make a Wish who support children with life threatening or limiting conditions.
These children are given a chance to have a wish granted, and within reason it is completely up to them.
Darshan from Hertfordshire was diagnosed with a brain tumour when he was 9 years old, now 13 his wish has changed over the last few years.
From John Cena, to Disney Land (the pandemic made this impossible) to a home gym, his wish is being granted:
"At first my wish was meet John Cena, a wrestler. I was struggling and I just loved his motto 'Never give up'.
"I loved that motto because I never gave up.
"But unfortunately because so many people want to meet him I wasn't able to do that so they asked me again recently what I wished for.
"So I decided on a home gym because Ive been doing a lot on fitness and it just felt right.
"It was really tough having treatments, operations and all sorts. The wish gave me hope, it made me feel like the was something that could make me happy.
"It just made me feel like I had something to live for."
Make A Wish believe there are currently over 60,000 children in the UK are eligible for a wish, but the pandemic has affected granting them.
Now, more than ever, the team want to be able to give these children something to look forward to.
When Darshan became ill his parents gave up work, re-mortgaged their home & set up a crowdfunding page to pay for life-saving proton beam therapy in America.
Samreen, Darshan's mum, says the wish made a difference to the whole family:
"I remember the day we were sitting in the living room and our wish granter Dan came and sat down talking to Darshan about his illness, his journeys but what was amazing was the selfless time.
"He helped him feel excited about life. Darshan missed out on so many social things, I remember the last day of school we rushed back to hospital to be plugged back into chemo.
"Having those conversations were something that helped replace all the loss.
"Its not just the child, its the whole family. It is highlt traumatic and it a big thing to go through.
"The impact of a wish is just huge, and Covid has only made it more important.
"Of course we donate and look at research to prevent these illnesses, but this is equally as important in the livelihood of those going through and having to survive them."
A host of celebrities took part in virtual meets with wish children, to hear first hand how important they are.
Darshan was one of those children, and the other week he got to meet Bear Grylls, which you can see from 7pm.