Wish stories

When nine-year-old Audrina from Derby grows up, she wants to find a cure for diseases and cancers like the neuroblastoma that she was diagnosed with. Her wish to visit the famous Francis Crick Institute and examine an array of cells gave her valuable insight into that future and a career as an immunologist.

When Audrina was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer, the family’s lives drastically changed. Her dad Zach described the build-up to her shocking diagnosis: “She had been suffering with pains and had been sick for ten months prior. 30 minutes after having scans done, the doctors called us back. The scan revealed that there were some abnormalities. So, we went to Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham where she received her diagnosis and it snowballed from there. It was very difficult for all of us.”

Neuroblastoma would shape Audrina’s life. As mum Gemma explained, “Her life would have been completely different if she had never got cancer.” Throughout treatment, Audrina was rarely able to go to school, forcing her to swap chatting with her mates in the school playground to instead talking to doctors and nurses in hospital. As Dad told us, “She missed pretty much all school, but when she did go in it was different - she had feeding tubes and had lost all of her hair. She was surrounded by adults, nurses, and doctors.” To make matters worse, treatment has left Audrina with disabilities that she will live with for the rest of her life.

The diagnosis had a drastic impact for Audrina’s parents. Having to cut back on the hours they worked, the family swapped their large house for a smaller one. “But we’re pretty much always together as a family,” said Mum. Now, the family chooses to focus on the positives of life: “It changed our whole perspective on life. Now we prioritise having fun and spending time together over material things. We are now genuinely just so happy with the simple life and don't let silly things stress us out.”

Influenced by the many hours spent in hospital and inspired by the doctors and nurses she’d met whilst undergoing treatment, Audrina aspires to be an immunologist when she’s older. It was no surprise that she viewed her wish as an opportunity to live out her dream career.

As Audrina told us: “I want to be a scientist, I want to research into diseases like cancer and find cures! Wishing to go to the institute and learning the science behind human anatomy is something you can’t organise yourself, so I thought, ‘I have to use this opportunity to visit the Francis Crick Institute!’”

The night before her wish, Audrina was beaming with anticipation: “I couldn’t go to sleep because I was just about to go on an epic adventure!”

The weekend of her wish started with a trip from the family home in Derby to London, where they checked into luxury hotel The Standard. Upon entering their room, the family were welcomed with an array of sweets given to them on behalf of the hotel, which Audrina thoroughly enjoyed.

The highlight of the weekend for the seven-year-old future scientist came when Audrina visited the world-renowned Francis Crick Institute. Delving into the world of immunology, Audrina was able to look at her favourite cells under microscopes, listen to a talk about mitosis, and use an electron microscope. Still buzzing from the experience, Audrina recounted how she “got to see a whole new side of biology - I got to work with the scientists, expand my knowledge, and learn some amazing facts from the professors!”

Another highlight of the wish came when Audrina met Nobel Prize winner and chief executive of the Francis Crick Institute, geneticist Paul Nurse. For Audrina, it was a once-in-a-lifetime moment where she was able to meet someone she looked up to, a source of inspiration for the future immunologist.

Mum highlighted the importance of wishes for kids like Audrina telling us how: “they need experiences to inspire them and keep them going. Something where they can think to themselves ‘ok I have this awful condition, but it means I get to do this awesome thing, which I couldn’t have done if I didn't have this condition.’ It's like a silver lining. It's nice for them to feel special and be rewarded for how unbelievably brave they are.”

“Thinking about my wish will bring back amazing memories of all the cool things that we did. It makes me feel so happy and lucky. Those memories will stick with me for a lifetime,” said Audrina. “A massive thank you to everyone who made my wish happen - I had the best time of my life! It was amazing. I was so lucky.”