Scarlett's Wish for a Puppy Pal
We talk to Daniel and Sarah, parents of incredibly courageous 10-year-old Scarlett who recently wished for her Mini Dachshund, Ava ⭐️
Scarlett lives with a rare disease, which only 100 people across the world have. She's also an incredibly resilient, happy and loving 10-year-old who wished for a Dachshund puppy best friend to spend her time with. We speak to her parents Daniel and Sarah to find out more about the impact of Scarlett's wish.
What was Scarlett’s reaction when she first met Ava? And how was their bond been so far?
"Scarlett was so in love with her beautiful new friend Ava, she couldn’t believe her luck and that she was all hers. She said it felt like a dream. Ava and Scarlett do absolutely everything together, playgrounds visits, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, swimming at the beach, walks at the park.
They are the perfect pair and it’s so beautiful to watch the spring in her step proudly taking her new little friend everywhere."
Scarlett wanted a surprise day for Ava to arrive. We took Scarlett in the car and didn’t tell her where we were off too. She couldn’t believe it when we arrived at Sneaky little Sausages to pick up her new best friend, she said this is the best day of my life.
Sarah, Scarlett's Mum
What's been your favourite moment of the Wish experience for Scarlett?
"I loved seeing the joy on her face when Make-A-Wish called and told her, her wish was coming true. They made everything so special from the shopping for items for Ava, to the beautiful photo book, the surprise doggy Christmas pack from Petstock and the elaborate puppy package Make-A-Wish offers. It was just the best start and meeting her beautiful wish team to show them her special friend, it’s truly been all magical.
Scarlett absolutely loved going shopping to get items for Ava, it was all just so much fun. She takes Ava to her puppy classes every weekend and that's something she really looks forward to. Scarlett loves going every month to the sneaky sausages play dates at the beach with Ava’s siblings too. It’s so much fun."
How do you feel Scarlett's wish has impacted both Scarlett and your family?
"We really wanted something so special for Scarlett. Scarlett is such a strong, happy, kind and determined girl but a severe ultra rare disease such as this can be so scary and daunting to navigate as her body loses abilities. She lost a lot of hope when the trial she hoped to qualify for and participate in was put on hold due to lack of funding. Something we all felt she needed after navigating this difficult heartbreaking path was to bring her back to being a child again and not worrying about her disease and the future.
CMT2s is very rare and severe in nature. It can progress into diaphragm paralysis with respiratory distress. Whilst our family is doing everything to support research, we all get overwhelmed by the severity of this disease and constantly feel like we are in a race against time. Our family and her medical team all just wanted to do anything we could to inspire that hope again and let Scarlett just enjoy being a kid. Scarlett's special friend that she can share her days with has brought such a big positive light into her world."
"When Make-A-Wish was suggested to us, we hadn’t even thought about it but it was such a beautiful journey that has really brightened up her world and she just loves doing everything with Ava. Ava has been an amazing inspiration for Scarlett, she is wanting to walk more with Ava as she wants to stay as strong as possible. She plays with Ava at the park and forgets all about her disease, it’s so beautiful to see.
We are so grateful for the kindness of Make-A-Wish, and people who support Make-A-Wish making the the world so much brighter for children with illnesses.
It’s been so lovely to have something so positive to look forward to. As a family we often focus and worry about how this disease will progress and if treatments will come in time for her to potentially benefit from."