Jenson Button grants teen’s wish
News release and photo for immediate use
Monday 23 July 2012
18 year old Matthew Hawthorne lives with genetic disorder Coffin-Lowry Syndrome. In May, he was granted his wish to meet Jenson Button by Make-A-Wish Foundation® UK, the charity that grants magical wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening conditions…
Matthew, who is from Bangor (County Down), loves Formula 1. So it came as no surprise that his wish was to meet Make-A-Wish Patron and F1 driver, Jenson Button. On the day of his wish, Matthew and his Dad, Mark, were taken to the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking and given a tour before meeting Matthew’s idol. Matthew was then taken to Mercedes Benz World where he was taken out on the track for a spin!
When Matthew was three months old he started having seizures but he wasn’t diagnosed until he was eight. Mark said: “It was such a relief to have a diagnosis and an answer to all of the things that Matthew had been displaying. He is unable to do the normal things that an 18 year old would do so now we just take each day as it comes.” Matthew has speech therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy to help with his condition.
After Matthew’s wish Mark said: “I was so impressed that this took place for him, he loved every minute of it and if Matthew’s happy, so am I. It was a really memorable experience.”
Jenson Button said: “It was a real pleasure to meet Matthew and I hope he thoroughly enjoyed his wish. Being a Patron for Make-A-Wish and being able to actually help grant some of the wishes is extremely fulfilling and humbling.”
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 and receives no government funding or lottery grants – so every donation really does count.
To make a donation to Make-A-Wish please visit www.make-a-wish.org.uk or telephone 01276 40 50 60.
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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 and the family are available for interview.
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.
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