A nine-year-old Wishaw girl diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour went behind the scenes to meet her favourite animals during a VIP visit to Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park.
The Les Hoey MBE DreamMaker Foundation charity arranged for young Faye Taylor to be a special guest at the park for the day and she arrived in style travelling with her parents Gavin and Elaine and sister Jodie in a pink-coloured stretch limousine.
Berryhill Primary pupil Faye was diagnosed with a tumour in her brain stem after complaining to her parents that she was suffering sore heads and pains in her left leg, and her arm and hand.
After an MRI scan at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, medical experts decided that the tumour couldn't be operated on. Faye’s only option was a course of radiotherapy in an bid to prevent the tumour from growing or spreading.
Faye had her final session in early July but her mum Elaine admits that, while it has helped, the youngster is exhausted.
Residents in Craigneuk, where Faye lives, rallied round the family following news of her diagnosis with a fundraising page set up to help her family make beautiful memories with her, it has raised over £8000 so far. Many people got in touch with the DreamMaker Foundation to see if they could also help out.
Faye’s parents have been overwhelmed by the response from the community.
Elaine said: “Some people still think there is a cure out there for Faye but sadly there isn’t and no amount of money can cure her no matter where she gets treatment the results will be the same sadly.”
Faye has a pet hamster named Buttercup, and when asked by her mum if there was something she would really like to do she told her: “I love spending time with animals.
“I like to pet them and feed them so if I could have a dream day, it would be to spend it with the animals.”
Charity founder Les said: “We were inundated with requests to help Faye and her family and we were only too happy to help.”
Team DreamMaker arranged for Faye, her mum and dad, and her sister to be picked up in the limo and travel to the park where they were able to go behind the scenes and meet its residents and learn all about them.
The charity’s manager, Angela Cook, said: “Team DreamMaker loved organising this special request.
“Faye got to meet and shake hands with the male sea lion Oscar and he gave her a cuddly toy version of himself.
“Next stop was getting some flipper painted drawings from the penguins. From there she went and fed the red-ruffed Lemurs. Faye loved the little babies and asked if she could take one home.”
After lunch there was a special surprise in store for Faye when she was able to feed giraffes, mother and daughter, Kelly and Bella.
A visit to the gift shop where Faye and Jodie could take their pick of the souvenirs was followed by a ride on the dodgems and an ice cream, which finished a fantastic day before the pink limo arrived back at the park to take the VIPs home.
Angela Cook added: “We would like to thank the Blair Drummond Safari Park staff for going above and beyond to make this day so special."
More information on the charity is available here. And to donate to the GoFundMe page for Faye, head online.
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