Wish stories

The first months of Dylan’s life were seemingly normal. But at three months, Dylan was rushed to hospital, only to later be diagnosed with a congenital heart condition. From then on, the family's lives were turned upside down.

“We spent the next eight months living in hospital. He then had open heart surgery, but this led to gastrointestinal issues, so we had to spend another three months in hospital,” said Taiti.

Due to both his condition and subsequent gastrointestinal problems, the next few years of Dylan’s life revolved around medical issues:

“We had to train him to eat again because he had lost the use of his mouth. We had to feed him through tubes. Right now he’s still underweight because he struggles with food.”

The impact of Dylan’s condition can be felt by the whole family, with mum having to quit her job to take care of him. “He has an older brother, Brandon, and a younger sister, Danielle. I had to be in hospital with Dylan, and that had an impact on the whole family.”

At school, classmates would notice Dylan’s differences. “It can be hard for him to make friends. He’s a little bit underweight, has to take loads of medications and has scars on his belly- so kids see him as different.”

Dylan loves playing football and going to his local dance classes. But with his condition impacting his physical fitness, Dylan struggles to keep up with his classmates.

For Dylan, Paw Patrol gave a needed distraction when in hospital: “In hospital everything was Paw Patrol, the toys and everything. Now he will even watch Paw Patrol on his iPad whilst it’s playing on the TV! We’ve watched all the Paw Patrol movies - I'm an expert now!”

When a play specialist at the Rennie Grove Peace Hospice noticed the love that Dylan had for Paw Patrol, she mention the idea of a wish to mum: “When he had his wish discovery call, straight away he knew he wanted a Paw Patrol wish. When I started talking to his Wishgranter, Jade, I realised that his birthday was coming up and asked if Make-A-Wish could do something for that!”

For Dylan and his family every moment counts:

“Dylan needs a wish because his condition can be life threatening, he needs to enjoy every minute he has.”

Through his wish Dylan and his family were able to make memories that will last a lifetime.

On 7th November, Dylan, alongside his family and friends celebrated his sixth birthday in his local village hall, which was decked out in Paw Patrol-themed decor.

"It was amazing to walk into the hall and see all the Paw Patrol-themed decorations. You could tell that Dylan was excited.”

The day involved plenty of fun and food, with DJ Meghan supplying the tunes and party games, a Paw Patrol cake and of course, a special visit from the Paw Patrol characters themselves, Dylan’s favourite moment!

“The best moment for him was when they brought out his favourite character, Chase! We took so many pictures and videos.”

Also a Paw Patrol fan, younger sister Danielle felt so included that she even thought it was her birthday party, “Both his brother and sister really did enjoy it! His brother jokingly said, am I going to get a party like this?!”

Once finding it hard to make friends, Dylan’s wish, the birthday party of the year, has meant that Dylan no longer feels different from his peers:

“Because of this wish he now has friends! They say in the school yard ‘that's the kid who had the Paw Patrol wish!’ They don't look at him differently now.”

The whole family is extremely grateful to be given the opportunity to celebrate Dylan. With Dylan’s condition holding the potential to take a turn for the worst, this is essential.