For nine-year-old John Stephenson – who has battled back from the brink of death after kidney failure – it was a day to reach for the sky.
A glorious red letter day he’ll never forget as he got to meet his heroes and get close up to jets he’s only seen soaring high above.
John – who dreams of being an engineer in the RAF – came face to face with the Red Arrows after the Make-A-Wish charity arranged for him to visit their base near Lincoln.
And Sunday Mirror readers can help give other brave youngsters like him a wonderful memory too by backing our Christmas Appeal.
John was just three when doting parents Marie, 40, and Mike, 45, checked in on him in his cot one night and found him hardly breathing with his eyes rolling back in his head.
The heartbroken couple thought they were losing him during a 999 dash to hospital – but he was stabilised on a ventilator.
Marie found she was a match for her ailing boy and six months later she gave him a kidney.
His dad, a former Royal Marine and now a firefighter, is also a match and may have to give him another as he gets older.
Now John still has check-ups every 12 weeks and has had to have therapy because of his condition.
Marie said: “He suffered PTSD through all the medical procedures.
“There is a lot of ‘can’t’ in John’s life. He’s a boy’s boy – but he can’t play rugby or other contact sports. This visit boosted his confidence. He’s always had a thing for the Red Arrows.”
Last year on his big day at RAF Scampton, also home of the famous Dambusters, he met the Red Arrows pilots, had an engineering tour of their Hawk jets and was given his own flying display.
“It was an emotional day, it blew us all away,” says sales manager Marie, of Carnforth, Lancs.
It even inspired John’s sister Lexi, 12, who wants to be an Army medic.
“It’s opened up his horizons and now he can see clearly what’s out there for him,” says Marie.
“He found out he can join up despite his kidney transplant if he goes into engineering. So his spirits have been really lifted.”
Your donations, now at nearly £8,000, will help lift the spirits of other youngsters through Make-A-Wish UK.
