Make-a-Wish families enjoy a day at Bear Grylls Adventure
Children with critical illnesses from across the UK were given a day to remember at The Bear Grylls Adventure thanks to Make-a-Wish.
The event was part of the charity's brand new 'Wish Alumni Programme', which allows families who have experienced a Wish in the past to connect with others whose lives have been affected by life-limiting or life-threatening illness.
Staffordshire eight-year-old Nancy Dykes made her way past scorpions, tarantulas and cockroaches at The Bear Grylls Adventure; an indoor-outdoor activity centre at the National Exhibition Centre in Solihull. Nancy, who was accompanied by Mum Antonia and older sister Florence, was diagnosed with soft tissue cancer at just two-years-old.
She said: "My wish was to go to have a private tour at the Natural History Museum, it was amazing. It was really crazy.'
The Dykes family was one of 12 families at the event, Antonia said: "It's been really nice hearing about other families wishes, and it feels very special to be invited."
Jack Tomes, Wish Alumni Manager at Make-A-Wish UK, said: "Bear Grylls' life motto is "courage, kindness and never give up, children like Nancy embody that spirit completely, and we can't think of a better place than The Bear Grylls Adventure to launch our Wish Alumni Programme."
Bear Grylls tweeted his delight at the event's success, he said: "We were so proud to have you all come along. So many heroes."
Parents Anil and Cindy, whose son Sunil was granted his wish for a PlayStation 5 in December 2020, travelled from Sutton Coldfield to attend. Sadly, Sunil passed away aged 18 in September 2021, due to a progressive degenerative condition called spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 which affects co-ordination, balance and speech.
His father, Anil, lives with the same condition, but was able to enjoy the day with Sunil's younger brother Rav.
Anil said: "The one I'm really looking forward to is iFLY. Because even though I'm disabled, it's something that I've always wanted to do – and here I can. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience."
Fern Wigfield, senior marketing executive at The Bear Grylls Adventure, said: "We believe that adventure is for everyone, and we do our very best to accommodate adventurers of all ability levels. The site has step free access throughout, and we're able to accommodate a range of ability levels on the majority of our epic experiences."
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