For Noah, George was more than a wish
George, the dachshund puppy, was more than a once-in-a-lifetime wish for seriously ill Noah. He was light at the end of a 19-month tunnel.
At nine years old, Noah was diagnosed with stage 4 advanced cancer in multiple tumours across his body in 2020. One tumour had taken up to three-quarters of his chest. The cancer was everywhere except his brain, bone marrow and spine. It was a long 19-month journey to get the all-clear, and treatment included six months of intensive chemotherapy.
While undergoing treatment, Make-A-Wish Australia asked Noah to think about his wish. Noah knew what he wanted. He wanted a dachshund puppy. His mum had a dachshund, so the two dogs could hang out together. But most importantly, Noah could have a puppy as his best friend and sit on his lap when he came home for good.
Noah’s wish was important as his parents had to break some promises during his treatment.
As Noah’s mum, Sam, explains, “When he got to the end of six months, we said ‘no more needles’, and then they added another year. And then, with Covid and the lockdowns, we had to break many promises. But the wish – getting his best friend – was something he knew we couldn’t take away from him. And that just kept him going. When he was in the hospital, all he spoke about was the things he would do with his new best friend.”
Noah was given the all-clear in May 2021 and was introduced to a wriggly bundle of puppy joy, George, in July 2021.
Noah’s mum sums it up beautifully. “All the doom and gloom and negativity and then Make-A-Wish is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
October is “Wishtober” at Barry Plant, and an amount from every property we sell is donated to Make-A-Wish. Over the last six years, Wishtober has raised over $860K for this wonderful organisation, and we hope to crack the $1 million mark this year.
Make-A-Wish is currently supporting over 800 children with critical illnesses, working to grant wishes that let sick children and their families focus on the possibility of tomorrow, not the challenges of today. As you can imagine, this requires a lot of funding.
If you’d like to help grant wishes to children like Noah, visit our Wishtober page and follow the prompts to donate.