 Now this week is the Make-A-Wish Charity's annual Wish Week. It's their fundraising campaign and the campaign is to help the hundreds of children that the charity helps every year who are living with life-threatening illnesses. Children like Aaron Logue who passed away in October of 2008 at the age of nine from a brain tumour. And his wish to be a knight and to get a dog was granted in May of 2008. Well is Mum Mary joins us now from Lahaneur. Mary, good afternoon. Good afternoon, John. How are you? Good, good. Now tell us about Aaron or tell us I suppose how it all started. It was just seven when you noticed there was something wrong. Yeah, it was in a, well, maybe for a couple of months in 2006 Aaron had been on well or feeling on well and he'd been to the hospital. You know it was different things said, this was this and that and then eventually at the end of October he was diagnosed with a brain tumour in the other Kenny hospital so we transferred him to Beaumont hospital and he spent about six weeks there where he had surgery and the tumour that he had was a very unusual, a rare tumour. Now the consultant we were dealing with said in his time in Cromman he had only seen, Aaron was the target of that tumour that he had seen so it was quite a rare tumour. So he went through and then the chemotherapy but during that time then it was when he was in the pediatric ward in the Kenny hospital that one of the nurses there mentioned make a wish and said they would like to put his name forward to have his wish granted. Brilliant. So that's how we became aware of make a wish then at that stage. So the way it works is you have to apply, is that correct? That's basically it's when the child has to be nominated somebody has to nominate the child to have their wish granted and what happens then is there's volunteers that work with make a wish throughout the country and we were very fortunate. We had two lovely girls, Eileen O'Donnell and Carolyn McHugh and they then got in contact with us and basically were in contact with us and came out to the house to meet Aaron and to talk to Aaron about what his wish, what he wanted but previous to that you were told that there was four things that the child to the think of. I want to be, I want to get, I want to meet or I want to go. So Aaron was asked to think about these things and kind of it'll be narrowed down then to one of you know either to be or to go to get or whatever it was. So that all that happened and then on the final night that the girls come out to make the decision. Like initially it was what we understood from was that it would be Disneyland either to be either Florida or Paris or somewhere like that. Yes. And on the night then when the girls were there he kind of just took the one from under us because when he was asked what was the best thing that he would want to get was a dog. It was no topic of Disneyland that night. It would be a way more than that to be public night and to get a dog. Okay. Now to get a dog you might think would be relatively straightforward but to become a knight as in a knight of the realm or you know a knight in shining armour that would be you would think would be a lot trickier but they said about making it happen. So tell us where it went from there. You headed off for a weekend. Is that right? It all happened in Donegal again that night when the girls were leaving the house and thinking of the knight and all the rest of the they said it probably would be somewhere in England that this would happen. But they were going to the solace lowest hotel in Donegal town for whatever reason and as they drove up the entrance at the time there was a huge bronze dragon in the garden and it lit up and then of course you had the castle background of the hotel so they had a kind of a light bulb moment and this would be the perfect setting. So that's where it was decided it would happen and we were taken on the Friday and this included pardon me the five of us plus the grand parents my mum and Michael's parents were alive at the time so they were all included as well so we were all taken to the solace lowest hotel on the Friday and we spent the weekend there. Now we were put up on the presidential suite in the hotel and it was just unbelievable when we got as far as Mount Charles or just before we headed into Donegal town there was a patrol car sitting with them there and the boys, Aaron has two brothers Darren and Kaelin so they were taken by patrol car with blue lights as far as the solace lowest and then when we arrived there there were like the companies and films and that's where you had your nights and you had the king and all of that so all that it was like a scene from a film was set up on the lawn at the front of the hotel and he was brought by pony to it and then he had to fight his way he'd approve himself and battle it by fighting one of the men that was there and then he was brought he was carried to the front steps of the castle and the king was there waiting for him and he was knighted on the steps and it was just absolutely amazing absolutely amazing so all of that went on for the weekend Friday, Saturday, Sunday he was taken out into a forest on the Saturday and there was a man there who did archery lessons with them and taught him how to shoot an arrow and a bow and arrow and just so much more it was unbelievable just it was amazing what they did and the fact that it was local huge event and unbelievable event took place just right on our doorstep you even got a special a special spin over the weekend is that right oh we did of course there was a helicopter we didn't know anything about that obviously and it was on the Saturday morning on Sunday morning we were taken out into the into the car park and there was a helicopter it was a local man there that had heard about Aaron's wish and that Aaron was coming to Donegal Town and he offered to do the helicopter and that's what we did and we got an area view of the site of Donegal which was amazing absolutely lovely so Aaron's wish to be a knight came true and in some style by the sound of things and then it was the weekend was rounded off then with a big banquet the banquet then on the Sunday night it was Aaron's birthday as well it's actually 15 years from this weekend the bank holiday may weekend so he was nine that night or that day and there was a huge banquet for the family all the family and the girls were there for make a wish and it was done we during the process leading up to it the girls would bring the volunteers would bring and say well I need your Michael's measurements or your own measurements and we need and all of this so that went on the idea something was happening but there was no what so then of course on that day they arrived with the costumes and myself and my mum and my brother-in-law were all in gowns and the hats all of the medieval style and the milk were dressed up and the food that came out that night everything was done there was fish that had been cooked from the black pan and all the food was medieval style and as well as that then because it was his birthday there was a bakery and the girls had approached the bakery telling the story of what was happening and that so the bakery produced a cake a three-tier cake in the style of a castle and there was a knife standing on the door at the door and there was even a moat in the icing round the cake and a dog swimming in the moat you know which represented Bonnie the dog It all sounds absolutely fantastic and it's the sort of thing that make a wish do weekend week out for others around the country but just to finish out the story what about the dog were they able to help out with getting a dog for him they got the dog as I say we were actually quite shocked because we were expecting Disneyland or something so they did the source of the dog we had initially said a small dog and the first portion of the dog had actually been rescued that we got Bonnie now our house wouldn't be that big so we had a small Labrador and we got Bonnie and on the Monday morning when everything was over we were taken into the castle to rescue again it was set up with some other children there and he had to fight his way through these to get into the castle to rescue Bonnie we had Bonnie then 10 years ago so Erin is dead 15 so we had Bonnie up until about 4 years ago when Bonnie died then a beautiful dog and it was just amazing I still look back on the photographs and the video on that it was absolutely sorry the weekend we had and it was all so much good because for that weekend everything was put to the back of your mind what was actually going on difficulties that was going on at that time in our lives so it it made a difference to us to say Erin had such a fantastic time as did his two brothers as well Darren came everybody was catered for across the board even though he was the wish child the whole family was included as well and make your wishes totally funded by charity and charitable donations so it's important you know the minute things are great for people financially and stuff like that but when I see what was done for our and for our family it's amazing and it's important that you know if anyone have a few extra pounds you know that you get in contact with me to wish and you know do something because it makes such a difference in the child's life and the family's life you know for that time and just to let listeners know that you know this far from being a one-off there was actually 183 wishes granted last year just looking at the website and and to date there's been almost 3000 wishes granted in total so it's there would be of course and at the minute now there's 270 children are on the waiting list hoping and dreaming that their wishes will come through and that has been I've been told by Susan in the office in Dublin that's a 65% increase in the application so that in turn means that there's a huge increase in as well in the amount of children that are actually living what life threatening illnesses so it's important I just feel I would be obviously very passionate about it and how important it is that you know when it only takes something small if everybody contributes something small that adds up to that it will grant some big change wish such a difference to Aaron at the time in a way not one but two wishes granted and just the day the way you described your day at the IS Castle it just sounds fantastic it was absolutely amazing and as well when we went back to Cromland Lake for check-ups after that and the consultant that we had at that stage was Dr. he could always see a marked improvement of the child and the mood of the family after the wish was granted because it's just a magical experience and it doesn't matter how small it is or how big it is it's what the child has wished for so it makes such a difference to their life and then we have all the photographs we have the video footage and all of that and you have that to hold on to along with your own memories as well and it's a wonderful organisation and very close to our heart like and to friends and neighbours and the people that were aware of what had happened and what was done for them absolutely well listen Mary thanks for sharing your story and a part of Aaron's story with us and just to remind people that if you want to get more information about Make-A-Wish or Make-A-Donation the website is Make-A-Wish.ie and that's being wish week thanks Mary can I just call Sean before you go I know at the minute there's confirmations in communion and all that going on throughout the country and maybe your own child would maybe consider giving something a small donation maybe from what they receive and to put it towards a child's wish would be a great idea, absolutely okay Mary thank you John take care, bye