Why I Donate to Make-A-Wish (And Why You Might Want To)
I’m a photographer. I capture joy for a living. Weddings, love, the moments people want to hold onto forever.
But I’m also a parent. And any parent who’s spent time on a children’s ward knows that the two worlds – joy and pure, gut-wrenching terror – can exist closer together than you ever want them to.
I’ve been that person sat in a hospital corridor not knowing what to do with my hands. I’ve watched my kids hooked up to machines and tried to hold it together, tried to be calm, tried to be the parent they needed while internally absolutely falling apart. It’s the most helpless feeling in the world. You’d give anything to take it away from them. And you can’t. And that’s the bit that breaks you.
Of course, I’ve known about Make-A-Wish for years, but it was actually watching John Cena and the sheer scale of what he gives to the foundation that made something shift. The rabbit hole started, as many things in my life do, with professional wrestling – specifically realising that John Cena has granted more Make-A-Wish wishes than anyone in history, which honestly tracks for a man who has built his entire brand around being relentlessly, exhaustingly good. Watching him show up, again and again, made me think: I want to make an impact too.
Because what Make-A-Wish does is cut through the relentlessness of serious illness and hand a child something different: hope. A reason to look forward. A moment that’s theirs. Not a procedure, not a ward, not another waiting room – something magical, something chosen by them, something that says you matter and you deserve joy right now, not just when you’re better.
For families deep in the worst of it, that matters more than I can put into words. And I’ve tried, because I know what that fog feels like. When everything is appointments and fear and trying to be strong, a wish (a real, ridiculous, wonderful, personalised wish) is a lifeline. Not just for the child. For the whole family.
I donate because I can. Because I’ve stood where those parents are standing, even if only briefly, and I know I’d have held onto anything that gave my boy something to smile about.
I donate because why the hell wouldn’t I?
If you want to do the same, you can find Make-A-Wish at makeawish.org.uk 🖤
