by Alan Jacques
ELEVEN-year-old Joey Enright from Westbury received a magical Christmas gift this year with a personal visit from Santa Claus.
Joey loves Santa, but this year he struggled a little to get into the festive spirit.
In a letter to Share A Dream for help, his dad Keith explained, “Our son Joey suffers from autism and we are finding it very difficult to find a place to see Santa. He becomes uncomfortable in large crowds and really struggles with long queues. He loves meeting Santa but we can’t seem to get a grotto to cater to his needs and as we can’t take our other children without him, unfortunately, they are also missing out which is heart-breaking”.
The thoughts of a family of children missing out on Santa due to one child having special needs quickly spurred the Share A Dream team into action.
“Our primary focus in Share A Dream is that all children are included in society so when we saw a family faced with this problem we had to do something special for them. We often say that a child with a disability can lead to a family with a disability” said Share A Dream chief executive, Shay Kinsella.
But just before Christmas something very special happened for Joey and his family.
Santa Claus abandoned his sleigh and hitched a ride in the ‘Dream Machine’ to visit the young Limerick boy’s home in Clonard, Westbury. Being purpose-built to appeal to children of all abilities, the Dream Machine was the ideal mode of transport for Santa on this occasion.
“This has been a truly magical experience for Joey and the entire family. We cannot believe that Share A Dream have organised all this for Joey on such short notice. We are absolutely blown away and so grateful”, said Joey’s dad, Keith.
Shay Kinsella of Share A Dream was equally enthused, “People whose children don’t have special needs are unaware of the struggles some families face with simple occasions like visiting Santa. Christmas is for all children and we were delighted to join Santa in making this Christmas a little more magical for Joey and his family.”
Share A Dream are now endeavouring to make more dreams come true for children in the new year. If you would like to support them in creating unique experiences and smiles for sick and disabled children across Ireland call 061-200080 or visit www.shareadream.ie. You can also text “share” to 50300 to donate €2 to this fantastic cause.
