Wish stories

Mum and dad, Geoff, spent the first five years of Theo’s life looking for an answer to his muscle weakness. It wasn’t until mum was watching TV that they began to get an answer:

“I was sat watching a charity event on TV and there was a boy on there with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, DMD. I sat there with tears running down my cheeks thinking that’s what he has.”

After mum expressed her worries to Theo’s doctor, Theo’s blood was tested. “We had the tests in December 2016, by then I had put it to the back of my mind that it could be DMD. One day later, they rang and said that he needed to get genetic testing to confirm that he had DMD.” The chances that Theo had DMD were now high: “that was when our world came crashing down. We were unaware for so long.”

The following January, it was confirmed that Theo had DMD. Slowly, his muscles will weaken and deteriorate, limiting his mobility and the things he can do.

“He’s no longer able to walk independently. He had a fall last July - although he didn’t hurt himself it frightened him so much that he’s now too scared to walk. He uses a powerchair to get around now.”

Although he can’t run around, Theo doesn’t let his condition get him down. “He’s very popular and has lots of friends at school!” said mum.

For a long time, the family have wanted to visit Center Parcs but had been unable to do so. “I work in a school, so if we were to go it would be during the school holidays, which is too expensive.”

Mum discovered that Theo would qualify for a wish through a colleague whose son has the same condition as Theo and who also had a wish. “We then applied for a wish for Theo. Me and Theo love Christmas, so Center Parcs at Christmas was the obvious choice for him!”

Theo eagerly awaited the experience - a holiday that mum hoped would bring happy Christmastime memories to the family.

On 6th December, the family made the trip from their home in Billingham to Center Parcs, Whinfell Forest. The three-night stay included several festive activities such as taking in Santa’s Woodland Village and an enchanted light garden.

As mum told us: “We had a wonderful time at Center Parcs. It was relaxing and fantastic spending some quality time together. We went swimming, bowling and had an exciting bike ride, where Theo was whooping, screaming and laughing in delight.”