Carole Pallant has every reason to smile, she has turned seriously ill kids’ dreams into reality for the past 35 years.
The amazing volunteer heard about the then new charity, Make-A-Wish UK, on the radio.
She knew what the parents and children were going through as her own son Nicholas, aged three, was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1971.
Carole said: “We were told he only had 12 weeks to live, which was so heartbreaking.” But treatment saved Nicholas’s life and he is now 53.
She said: “When I heard that appeal, I felt such a connection to Make-A-Wish. I knew what it was like to be the mum of a very poorly child.
“I also felt the children that wanted the wishes were like my son, and I could do something that could help them.”
Her first day volunteering was in December 1986. In 1990 she was hired full-time as a paid administrator and would have 21 different job titles at the charity.
Carole, 75, of Edgton, Shropshire retired in 2008 as PR and Celebrity Manager but is still a volunteer.
More than 13,000 wishes have come true for seriously ill children, thanks to Make-A-Wish UK, and Carole has been there for many of them.
She admitted she had been very nervous on her first job, arranging a trip to Disney World for a lad with leukaemia.
She said one highlight had been helping a youngster see the Loch Ness Monster. “He was absolutely positive he saw the creature.”
Carole also arranged for children to meet stars Shakin’ Stevens, Boy George and Cliff Richard, and Princess Diana and the Queen.
She said Rod Stewart installed ramps at his Essex home so two brothers with muscular dystrophy in wheelchairs could visit. “He went over and above, he was amazing,” she recalled.
She adds: “To give these children a little bit of magic when many had nothing to look forward to is so important.”
