Florida

In March 2008 me and my family went on an amazing family holiday to Florida. Some time ago my cousin had been seriously ill and he'd had a wish granted for him by the Make-A-Wish foundation. His mum (my aunt) had told us about this fantastic charity and suggested that I would probably be able to have a wish granted by them too. So at the end of 2007 when my health was stable after my transplant I though about contacting the Make-A-Wish foundation. I did some research and found that they granted wishes for children aged 3 to 17 living with a life-threatening illness. At this point I was 17, so realised I had to act soon. I contacted the charity and after lots of paperwork two local representatives came out to meet me at home to discuss my wish. I came up with 3 options and they went away to see what they could do. I was soon contacted and told that my first wish, to swim with dolphins, would be granted and with my family I would be going on holiday to Florida!

So for a week in March 2008 we went to Orlando, Florida! The Make-A-Wish foundation organised and paid for everything for us, which was brilliant as we wouldn't have been able to afford it ourselves. It was fantastic as it was our first holiday since my transplant and we all needed a break. We stayed in a lovely resort just outside Orlando called 'Give Kids the World'. It has links to the Make-A-Wish foundation and provides accommodation for wish children and their families who are having a wish granted to go to Disneyland or to swim with dolphins.

While in Florida we all had a brilliant time and managed to pack loads of activities into just one week. The Make-A-Wish foundation and Give Kids the World also provided us with special passes that let us jump all of the queues at the theme parks we visited :D

On the Thursday we went on an airboat ride at Boggy Creek:

Sorry about the above photo. The boat was moving very quickly, so I only managed to get a photo of half of the alligator!

On the Friday my mum and dad met Popeye and Olive at the village where we were staying:
Then we went to Universal studios:
At Universal Studios we saw lots of film sets and I met the actual dog that starred in Men In Black 2:

On the Saturday we visited Disney's EPCOT where we went on some great rides and also visited scenes from countries all around the world:

On the Sunday we returned to Universal Studios, but this time to visit Islands of Adventure (the theme park):

On the Monday we visited Discovery Cove:

On the Tuesday we visited Ocala National Park where I fell in love with raccoons:

And on the Wednesday we went shopping before getting the flight home.

I was so grateful to the Make-A-Wish foundation for granting us this amazing holiday that I wanted to give something back. So for my 18th birthday (last September) I told all my friends and family that instead of presents I'd like them to make a small donation to the Make-A-Wish foundation. We made over £400!

If you want to find out more about the Make-A-Wish foundation they have a website at www.make-a-wish.org.uk.