When You Wish upon a Star – Creating a Respite Getaway

Spinney have worked alongside When you Wish Upon a Star for a few years now inviting families to use one of our top-of-the-range caravans sited at Blakemere Touring Park, Cheshire to give some respite to their busy lives. When You Wish Upon a Star has a simple mission; to grant the wishes of children living with a life-threatening illness. Their wishes have the power to transform the lives of the children and families in which they work with and since 1990 they have proudly granted over 16,500 wishes across the UK.

Our latest family that will be coming to stay in our caravan next month is the Rolling family. Sam and Thomas Rolling and their beautiful daughter Edith who’s now 4 years old.

“Edith was diagnosed with a sacrococcygeal malignant germ cell tumour with metastatic disease. It had spread to numerous places around her body including her spine and lungs and had also caused long term damage to her bladder which she will have to manage for the rest of her life. Knowing Edith however, she will continue to take this in her stride as she has done everything else and rather than seeing this difference as a negative, she will see it for what it is; a small price to pay for the amazing life she will go on to lead.

In the five months following diagnosis, Edith underwent numerous scans and operations under general anaesthetic, including a lengthy operation to remove the residual lump in February 2018, chemotherapy treatment, blood transfusions, platelet transfusions, GCSF injections and numerous blood tests (the blood tests are still ongoing as this is how Edith’s consultant checks that the cancer is staying away). The care and attention she received was second to none and we are so grateful to all the doctors, nurses, and support staff who helped Edith on her road to recovery and who continue to help and monitor her now.

Thankfully (which seems like the biggest understatement ever) the treatment Edith received was successful in eradicating the cancer; Edith has now been in remission for just over a year. We count our blessings every day that the type of cancer Edith had responded so well to the treatment and we are forever thankful that we are where we are today. Our one continued hope and wish is that Edith has a long, fulfilled and happy life and never has to experience anything like what she went through again”.

We are so blessed to be able to work with such a fantastic charity and give something back to these wonderful families which have fought through so much. With When You Wish Upon A Star, we will continue to give families the respite needed and to create the most serene surroundings for them to enjoy, away from the hecticness of everyday lives.