Wish stories

Mert lives with Eisenmenger Syndrome, a condition caused by several heart defects, and which was once thought to reduce his life expectancy significantly. As mum shared: “We were asked if we would consider fostering him at three weeks, He wasn't expected to live long, around three weeks up to a few months. But he's gone on and on. He hasn't gotten better, nor worse!”

The impacts of his condition are many: chronic tiredness means that Mert relies on a wheelchair to get around; the physical activities he can do, like playing football or going to soft play, are limited; he experiences several painful migraines each week.

“He would have been a completely different boy if he didn’t have this condition. He has a biological brother who is different and very active. But Mert can’t be. He has to be very mature about things when people run off in the playground and he's on his own. He just accepts it.”

Currently, Mert’s future remains unknown. As Carol told us “He may deteriorate slowly or his heart might just stop. There's nothing that they have found that they can do to help him. He can't sleep on his own. So I spend every night in his room with him.”

Despite the limitations his condition places on him, Mert excels at all the things he can do: “he's so intelligent and every adult that ever meets him finds him very engaging. He’s very mature for 12.”

After one of Mert’s play therapists from Joint Service for Disabled Children referred him for a wish, the decisive 12-year-old didn’t hesitate when picking his wish.

Carol said: “He likes what I like and I like Wallace & Gromit. We’re always really keen when new films come out. When we spoke about what he wanted to do that's immediately what he wanted. Visiting Aardman Studios isn’t something you could just do!”

Throughout the wish process, mum was impressed by the level of communication from Make-A-Wish: “They kept in touch with me a lot and thought of everything! They thought of things I didn’t even think about, like parking which made it so relaxed for us!”

On 10th April, the animation-filled day kicked off with the family driving from their home in Enfield to Bristol, where Aardman Studios is based.

With two Early Man characters in hand, Mert and his mum entered the famous Aardman Studios building to be met by none other than co-founder Peter Lord, who took Mert on a personal tour of the building and the studio’s history.

Mert and mum were then treated to a tour of Aardman Studios’ model shop where some of the studio's latest creations were being sculpted – even getting the chance to add some clay onto a character! As the model makers told him: “The more thumb-y the better!”

After cleaning up, Mert was led onto set to see some of the animators live at work on a brand-new project (but Mert is sworn to secrecy so we can say no more!). The tour continued with a trip to the office of Wallace & Gromit creator Nick Park!

The highlight of the morning was when Mert met animator and Aardman Studios director Will Becher, who showed Mert how to make animations. Mert then had a go at animating for himself with three of his favourite characters: Wallace, Gromit, and Shaun the Sheep (a trio not reunited on screen since A Close Shave!)

Under the expert tutelage of Becher, Mert was soon capturing frame after frame to create his own piece of film to take away. Over 50 frames (and yet only a few seconds of footage) later, Mert was in his element - he’s now one of only around 30 people in the world who have had the privilege of animating Wallace & Gromit!

Whilst stopping for lunch, Mert and his mum were rejoined by Peter Lord: “He came down and had lunch with us! They had a ball of clay each and he was showing Mert how to make Morph and they made one each! That was delightful, he spoke one-to-one with him and it made him feel really important and special!”

Mum was astounded at the attention and interest Mert was given by the animators at the studio: “They treated him with such dignity like he was a very important person, they were sharing such complicated things with him. It wasn't ‘ah he's a poorly person he can't learn anything’ it was ‘he's an important person and we’re going to show him how things are and made!’”

The experience boosted Mert’s confidence. After being taught how to animate by the studio’s director, Mert has now found a favourite hobby. As mum told us “Mert has a lot more confidence and ideas as to what he wants to do. He’s now deciding how he will make clay puppets.”

Before his wish, Mert was hesitant to talk about his future, but the life-changing experience changed that: “When he spoke about what he wanted to do when he grows up, he was hesitant because there's a chance he won't grow up and he knows that. But now he says that he thinks he would want to do animation in the future. So it has helped him think about the future a bit more. Children like Mert can think that there isn't a future, so just to be taken out of that and to see a future is so important to Mert.”

Now the family is eternally grateful for the wish, and all those who helped make Mert’s day so special.