Haikhal and Shafee with Make-A-Wish Malaysia team, doctors and family members.
KOTA KINABALU (Aug 19): Make-A-Wish Malaysia on Saturday granted the wishes of 16-year-old Haikhal from Papar and 12-year-old Shafee from Kuala Penyu.
Haikhal has myxopapillary ependymoma; a slow-growing tumor in the primary central nervous system. He used to be active in sports before his diagnosis.
He was first diagnosed in 2020 but due to the pandemic, his treatment was delayed for a year and only relied on painkillers and vitamins. By the time he received treatment, he lost the ability to walk and is now wheelchair dependent.
Haikhal’s wish was to have a wheelchair as his current one is worn out.
Meanwhile, Shafee has diplegic cerebral palsy; a neurological condition that appears in early childhood and permanently affects muscle control and coordination. By two years old, he could not sit and stand on his own. In 2022, Shafee went for a leg operation to have a screw inserted to his femur. His wish was to have a microphone as he loves to sing.
During the handing over of their wishes, Haikhal and Shafee performed their favourite songs ‘Isabella’ and ‘Satu Rasa Cinta’ witnessed by their family members and doctors.
Both of them also had the opportunity to meet Sabah FC players during the event.
Make-A-Wish Malaysia Chief Executive Officer Irene Tan said the self-supported non-governmental organization has granted over 850 wishes to children from different parts of the country, including Sabah.
“We are currently working together with two hospitals namely Sabah Women and Children Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where they will recommend children with critical conditions, and we will do the background check and assessment before making final selections.
“There are four categories of wishes namely ‘to have’, ‘to be’, ‘to go’ and ‘to meet’. Once finalised, we will try to grant them as best as we can based on the child’s conditions and doctors’ approval.
“Recipients must be aged between three and 18 years old, and must be a Malaysian,” she said.
Tan added Make-A-Wish Malaysia is looking forward to expand to more hospitals in Sabah, but their main challenge is not having enough volunteers in the state.
“We would like to be able to work with corporate companies, if possible, who are interested they can contact us. We can help to build a team of volunteers within the company and that would ease the communication, timing, everything could be more efficient if it is done here for the local children.
“For individuals, we can give them training and no special requirements needed to be our volunteers, as long as they can commit in a long run,” she said.
More information about Make-A-Wish Malaysia is available online at www.makeawish.org.my and they can be contacted via email at [email protected]