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| Britain |
| Cancer kid's dream shattered |
| 2005-08-21 |
| A 12-year-old English cancer sufferer who dreamed of visiting Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo has had his hopes dashed after the charity that "granted him his wish" closed its UK office. Daniel Round of Norden, Essex, was over the moon in February when he was awarded the trip of a lifetime to his hero's zoo by the Children's Wish Foundation, the UK's Rochdale Observer reported yesterday. Daniel is in remission from cancer of the spine which has left him wheelchair-bound. Daniel was told he would be jetting off to Australia before he starts high school next month. But he was devastated to be told that the trip was off, at least for now, after the charity's London office closed. All wishes are now being handled by its head office in the US, which is unable to say when Daniel's wish may be granted. His mother, Juli Round, said her son had been "to hell and back". "We hadn't heard from the foundation for three months so I asked them to reassure Danny that he was still going, which they did," Ms Round said. "Then we were told he might be going in September, which I was angry about because I didn't want him to miss more school. "Three days later the foundation said their office had shut and all their wishes transferred to America." She said the family had since received an email from the head office in Atlanta to say the foundation was still "waiting for the paperwork to come". Daniel, who had to fight for survival in the intensive care unit at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, was nominated for the wish by his nurse. He had to write to the foundation, which grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses, to tell them why he wanted to go. He spent two months putting his feelings in writing and drawing pictures of the reptiles and animals he wanted to see. Daniel also dreamed of one day emulating his hero Irwin and opening his own zoo in Australia. "He told them it was his ultimate wish to visit the crocodiles and reptiles at Australia Zoo," Ms Round said. "Before he went to sleep at night I would tell him dream of Australia but now the magic has gone." A spokeswoman for the Childrens Wish Foundation International in Atlanta said: "We had fantastic staff in London who we loved dearly and it was a sad day when we had to close". |
| Posted by:Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World |
| #2 take Bakri's family's |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-08-21 11:12 |
| #1 Yes, a fantastic staff who apparently had no warning they were about to close as the only excuse for not forwarding projects early to the US. Otherwise, I would suggest that they were not so fantastic as all that. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-08-21 11:03 |