Gracie is a brave and fun-loving 7-year-old with a heart of gold – she also loves to make everyone laugh and smile.

So, it’s only natural that Gracie fell in love with Quokkas and their infectious grins in the past year. Ever since she found out they existed; she has been obsessed.

Having first spotted a Quokka in an Australian movie – she quickly began researching more about the adorable animal, watching videos and wanting to know everything about them.

Gracie’s grandma gave her a Quokka toy, and when she was having treatment and having surgeries her Quokka would always come in with her. So, when Gracie’s wish to see Quokkas and take selfies came true – she was all smiles!

Gracie got to take her whole family to spend time with Quokkas on Rottnest Island. Rebekkah, Gracie’s mum says her favourite part of the whole trip was getting a kiss from a quokka!

"We loved seeing the kids absolute joy when interacting with the quokkas, the quality family time without the stress of medical appointments and our normal responsibilities, riding around on bikes exploring the island and just taking in the absolute beauty of Rottnest!"

Gracie’s wish was of an urgent nature, as her medical team were unsure of how she would respond to her recent open-heart surgery for Marfan syndrome – meaning her wish to see the quokkas was fast tracked.

"Her wish being granted has shown Gracie that all her bravery and spirt getting through her surgeries was seen. It’s given her such a sense of accomplishment and pride that she was able to push through these recent tough times knowing that she had an amazing adventure ahead of her. Before her recent heart surgery, we kept telling her that once she healed, she would be going on her amazing trip - so she would squeeze her make a wish coin and dream big for the future."

"This wish being granted for Gracie has given her so much joy, and the memories we have of this trip will last us all a lifetime. She hasn't stopped talking about her trip, and her love for the quokkas."

"She loved the trip so much that she wants us to move there!"

Darren is a bright and lively 7-year-old boy who has a heart for animals, loves playing with LEGO and reading about STEM topics. He was also diagnosed with Wilm’s Tumor – also known as nephroblastoma, a rare form of kidney cancer that affects children – when he was only three years old. Today, after surgery and chemotherapy, he is in remission!

Darren started his Wish Journey in with Suzanne and Cheryl (volunteers) in January 2020. At the time, he was excited for the potential to visit the Natural History Museum in London as this combined his interests of science and animals (yes, that includes dinosaurs too).

However, with the advent of the global pandemic thus significant travel restrictions as well as health precautions over the last two years, his wish was put on pause for some time. We kept in touch virtually, celebrating his 5th and 6th birthdays together with the family by sending cake and gifts.

Towards the end of 2021, we started ideating again on a domestically focused wish. This was when we decided on a family trip to the Singapore Zoo, in particular to see an ongoing pop-up exhibition called Brickosaurs. On the morning of 15 December 2021, Darren dressed up as an explorer, complete with a ranger’s hat and binoculars, and we were off for a VIP tour at the zoo!

In a fun-filled educational day, Darren and his family had the opportunity to meet & greet the African penguins, feed the giraffes, and complete various activities linked to the Brickosaurs exhibition – such as excavating dinosaur fossils from a sandpit. The chartered buggy also took the family past many animal enclosures, while two knowledgeable guides shared more details about the resident animals. We wrapped up the day with a dinosaur themed lunch and LEGO gifts sets for both Darren and his sister.

Now, Darren also had an additional task during this zoo visit: which was to take inspiration from the animals that he sees, to sketch them down as characters to create a cartoon book. We had this step added to the wish as Darren is a highly intellectual boy and has a special connection to drawing and coloring. Between December 2021 to February 2022, Darren worked hard on developing characters and a storyline in his sketchbook. Then from February to March 2022, a professional cartoonist was brought in to work with Darren and transform this into a final 30-page cartoon book.

On 26 March, we had Darren’s Wish Day (combined with his birthday celebration) with the whole family, including Darren’s two sisters and grandparents. We started off with lunch, which was kindly sponsored by Neo Garden. Our first surprise was to build customized LEGO figures of his book’s two main characters, the penguins Trustie and Quick Quick. It was a very fun time working with LEGO master Jeffery. Next, we had a big poster reveal of Darren’s cover page – his face shone with delight, and he wanted to frame this up immediately! Third, we had a penguin-customized cake, which was also kindly sponsored by Locaba. Similarly, Darren’s face lit up when the care was revealed, and the taste was nothing short of yummy – chocolate and raspberry mix which everyone loved. Finally, the printed books were revealed, and Darren did a storytelling plus autographing session for everybody.

We wrapped up the day with opening his birthday gifts; from the MAW team, our gift was more sketchpads and Faber-Castell color pencils to encourage the next sequels of Trustie’s Adventures.