By Jessica Rowe
A Christchurch teenager diagnosed with leukaemia has had an unusual wish granted.
Ryan Holley designed a special chair – a place to hide in after chemotherapy – and the Make A Wish Foundation decided to build it and give it to him.
The 13-year-old has been enduring chemo for the past year. What kept him going was a dream of zoning out in a personalised escape pod.
Ryan began working on it shortly after being diagnosed with leukaemia last year,
“It's not just a chair with a visor,” he says, “I've designed it to put in a small table that can fold out from the side, an MP3 dock, which will be compatible with my MP3 player or my iPod and my iPad. Also it has speakers.
“It's kind of like my own little space to hide out and relax, until I feel a bit better.”
His mother Andrea has found her own kind of therapy: making cupcakes.
“I think when Ryan was going through the rough bits of treatment, it was hard on all of us. It was something to look forward to,” she says.
And this afternoon his dream came through the door. Ryan's wish was answered by the Make A Wish charity, as one of 200 wishes they'll grant this year.
Ryan hopes his chair will inspire other cancer patients to design their own bolt holes – and he may even start selling copies of his.
3 News