Fashion designer fun for Jessica
News release and photo for immediate use
Wednesday 16 May 2012
Unlike most eight year olds, Jessica Maybury from Rowley Regis knows what she wants to be when she grows up – a fashion designer. After being diagnosed with a condition that causes bone marrow failure she turned to the team at Make-A-Wish Foundation® UK, the charity that grants magical wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening conditions, to see if they could make her dream job a reality...
On 17 April Jessica was escorted by limousine to Marks & Spencer’s Paddington offices where she was immediately treated like a real fashion designer -she went through magazines to pick out styles for her mood board, sketched some of her own designs and scanned her ideas into a computer to add colour. Jessica was then given a sneak preview of the Christmas clothing range and even got to try a few items on! At the end of her wish Jessica was presented with a t-shirt which featured one of her very own designs. Her Mum, Sharon, said it was a total surprise and Jessica was “gobsmacked”.
Jessica was diagnosed with Aplastic Anaemia in June 2011. Her illness meant that she had no immune system so she was constantly catching infections and taking antibiotics. In September last year she was given a bone marrow transplant. Before having the transplant Jessica underwent a course of chemotherapy which left her very unwell; her immune system has since been steadily building back up.
Sharon said: “Watching Jessica’s face throughout the day was fantastic. A situation like this is one that you never think will happen to you and when it does it turns everything upside down, but you can come out the other side. Her wish was an experience we will remember forever.”
There are currently 20,000 children and young people in the UK fighting a life-threatening condition and this year alone 1,400 children will turn to Make-A-Wish to have their wish granted. The charity needs to raise £6.8 million in 2012 to achieve this.
To make a donation to Make-A-Wish please visit www.make-a-wish.org.uk or telephone 01276 40 50 60.
~ ends ~
For more information about this news release please contact:
Hayley Epps: T: 01276 405093 M: 07557563214 E: hayley.epps@makeawish.org.uk
Notes to editors:
1. More photos available if required
2. Please note that Make-A-Wish does not use phrases such as ‘terminally ill’ in order to respect the sensitive nature of life-threatening conditions and what they mean to children and young people and their families. We would ask that this approach is followed and that the term ‘life-threatening conditions’ is used in material for publication.
3. Make-A-Wish should be referred to as Make-A-Wish Foundation® UK in the first instance. Thereafter ‘Make-A-Wish’ or ‘Make-A-Wish Foundation’ is suitable. We would ask that you try to keep ‘Make-A-Wish’ on the same line.
4. Make-A-Wish grants magical wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening conditions. The charity was founded in the UK in 1986. Registered charity number: 295672/SC037479 www.make-a-wish.org.uk
Tags:
