Latest Wishes - Captivating Cricket for Tom’s Wish
Crazy about cricket and wild for wickets, 17-year-old Tom was completely bowled over when he discovered that his wish was to be granted.
Tom, from Morpeth, Northumberland, who is living with a brain tumour, was thrilled when he was invited to be guest of honour at Durham County Cricket Club, organised with the help of none other than cricketing legend and Make-A-Wish patron, Alec Stewart.
The excitement began bright and early on Monday morning when a shining limo arrived at Tom’s home to collect him and his parents, Glen and Nicky, brother, Will and sister, Nina, for a VIP journey to Durham County Cricket Club. Arriving just before 10:00am, the Sandersons were warmly greeted by Yvette Thompson, Communications Executive, who whisked the family off on a special tour of the cricket club. When handed a copy of the match programme, Tom was surprised to see mention of his wish in the Captain’s column.
Former England cricket captain Alec Stewart immediately offered his support when he was told about Tom’s wish. Alec had discussed plans for Tom’s special day with the Durham County Cricket Club, who enthusiastically agreed to pull out all the stops to make Tom’s wish a day to remember. Alec also spoke to his contacts at Slazenger, who then generously provided cricket whites for Tom. This cricket-crazy young man was thrilled to receive his very own kit presented to him by Graham Onions, now in his beneficiary year at Durham CCC.
The cricket match of the day was Durham County versus Leicestershire. As the stands began filling up with excited spectators, Tom was invited out onto the field to flip a special £5 coin for the toss whilst captains Dale Bekenstein (Durham) and Dinesh Mongia (Leicestershire) watched. Durham won the toss and put Leicestershire in to bat. As guest of honour, Tom was asked to sound the crass bell for the start of the match. Tom was then able to join his family in the stands and enjoyed a fantastic show of sportsmanship as the two teams battled it out for victory.
Soon it was time to break for lunch, which was kindly provided for Tom and his family at the cricket club. During lunch Tom was also presented with some memorabilia of cricketers from Durham County Cricket Club and Leicestershire. Returning to the field, Tom and his family watched the remainder of the match unfold, resulting in Durham winning by three wickets. All too soon it was time to return back home in the limo, but Tom travelled home with irreplaceable memories of his wonderful wish that had been a great success, including two signed shirts from his hero Steve Harmison, Durham CCC fast bowler.
“Watching the cricket match was really exciting, particularly as I was able to walk onto the field with the rest of the players” says Tom. “The best part of the day for me was getting my cricket whites”
In 2010, around 1,000 children will turn to Make-A-Wish to have their special wish granted. We need to raise £5 million this year in order to continue granting these magical wishes. Please help us to grant more magical wishes by making a donation today