Wish stories

Noor is three years old and is described as a stubborn yet still well-behaved little boy by his mum, Maheen.

“He’s been through quite a lot in the first two years of his life,” she explained. “During his early years, he’s been through chemotherapy and in isolation. As a result, he’s currently non-verbal.”

At just ten months old, Noor underwent a stem cell transplant. Unfortunately, the stem cell transplant graft failed, meaning he had to undergo chemotherapy and another transplant a year later.

Although he has had to contend with challenges that no child his age should have to face, life is slowly returning to normal for Noor. He still attends regular hospital appointments and needs get his blood levels checked often but he has started going to nursery again and enjoys engaging with the world around him, which he couldn’t do for a long time as he was immunocompromised.

Whilst Noor was in hospital, the family was referred to Make-A-Wish by referral partner, Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

Due to his long stays at hospital, Noor has found it very difficult to get to sleep and wakes up frequently throughout the night. He also enjoys his own company and playing alone, so his family thought that he would enjoy a sensory bedroom makeover for his wish, hoping that it would give him a special place to play and unwind by himself.

His room has been re-designed with a space theme, incorporating all the sensory elements that Noor loves so much, such as bright colours and lights.

“It’s made a big change,” shared mum. “It suits Noor’s needs in terms of what interests him. There’s sensory lights and brighter colours and it’s just a nice bedroom in general. It’s improved his wellbeing and he’s a bit more happy in himself. He especially loves the lights, both the LED ones and the ceiling projector. He just loves the atmosphere and spending time in his new bedroom, it relaxes him.”

The bedroom makeover has also made a huge difference to the family’s overall wellbeing as well.

“It’s helped us a lot as he’s in more of a routine now so he’s in a better mood when he goes to nursery. When the child is happy, the parents are happy!” laughed mum.