Every year, 8.2 million people die from cancer-related illnesses. Every month, about 15,700 children are diagnosed with cancer. Every day, thousands of parents receive the life-changing, devastating and horrifying information that their child has cancer. 1 out of 8 children with cancer will die. These children are not just numbers. These children are people filled with enormous amounts of emotions, joy and pleasure that will never be experienced. Like unopened treasure chests, they contain feelings that will never be felt, laughter that will never be heard.

These children might never experience adulthood. They might never experience their first kiss. They may never be able to experience the joy of graduating high school and college, getting a driver’s license, getting married, or having a child of their own. The universe has destined these children’s lives to be limited, stopped on the edge of excitement by pain and misery. It is not fair. It is not fair. But even though it is not fair, their lives don’t have to be limited. Knowing about malevolent diseases opens up possibilities to fill every day with happiness. It makes it possible for a parent to spoil a loved one, to make every single second count. It makes it easier to say yes, to make everything possible in a world of impossibles. Of all the things that become difficult with a negative diagnosis, happiness shouldn’t be one. Happiness should be simple, just like it is for so many children in the world.

The Make-a-Wish foundation’s goal is to grant the wish of every child diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition. In only the United States alone, on average, a wish is granted every 37 minutes. Adrianna Talaga and I have taken on the challenge of raising £3,000 each to grant even more wishes. By participating in the University of Warwick RAG Society’s Machu Picchu trekking challenge, we have committed to grant as many wishes as possible until we leave for Peru to promote awareness on the 4^th of September 2016. By trekking the Machu Picchu, we will prove to ourselves that nothing is impossible. We will show that no wish is too big or too small. No wish is silly, no wish is irrelevant. But every wish deserves to be granted.

So please donate. It does not matter how much or how often, just please do it. Because a small gesture from you contributes to a pinnacle moment of a child’s entire life.