Steam train surprise for Archie
News release and photo for immediate use
Tuesday 14 August 2012
When Louise Waterton was five months pregnant she was told her baby had Pulmonary Atresia with VSD – a congenital heart disease. Now three, Archie is obsessed with steam trains so Make--A-Wish Foundation® UK, the charity that grants magical wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening conditions, sent him on a very special day out...
On the morning of his wish Archie, who is from Dorking, was taken by limousine to the Mid Hants Railway ‘Watercress Line’ in Hampshire where he was shown around the train shed and the signal box. He was then given the very important task of blowing the whistle and shovelling the coal in the cab. After stepping down from his train driver duties he took his seat as a passenger for his first ever steam train ride. Archie loved his wish so much so that he still wears his train driver badge every day and has said he wants to be a train engineer when he’s older!
Archie had his first operation when he was just seven days old and a second emergency operation at 22 months. He now visits the hospital every three months for an echocardiogram and sees a pediatrician every six months. He is also on the waiting list to have open heart surgery, which will hopefully go ahead in September. Archie’s Mum, Louise, said: “It’s a waiting game; I wish I could see into the future. His wish gave us something to look forward to – it was lovely to see his face and it gave us some real quality time together.”
Louise went on to say: “Archie was so overwhelmed and lost for words during his wish – everyone knew his name! Make-A-Wish really made him feel like a celebrity.”
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.
5. The Mid Hants Railway Ltd ‘Watercress Line’ is a heritage steam railway operating along ten miles in Hampshire. As a volunteer led and charitable organisation all revenue generated from its operation is directly fed back into the railway to ensure this piece of industrial heritage is here for many more future generations to enjoy. For any further information please contact Anna Wilson-Barnes t: 01962 733810 e:marketing@watercressline.co.uk
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