Cov girl realises dream on ‘life-changing’ trip to Florida

A Coventry youngster's dream of swimming with dolphins came true on a special holiday of a lifetime in Florida. Daria Comedie was one of 191 vulnerable children invited on to Dreamflight's annual free trip to Orlando.

On Sunday, Daria and her companions had a rare opportunity to share open water with dolphins at Discovery Cove. "Swimming with the dolphins was amazing, it was a really nice experience, really good," the 14-year-old said.

"I think today was my favourite day, the dolphins were just so cute and so soft." Every year Dreamflight takes children with a serious illness or disability, many of whom have never been abroad or away from their families, on a holiday of a lifetime to Orlando.

The UK charity says the experiences can be life-changing and give young people 'an opportunity to do something that medicine can’t - discover independence, confidence and a new outlook'. The trip incorporated visits of Disney's Hollywood Studios, Universal Studios and waterpark Typhoon Lagoon to ride rollercoasters and water slides and meet Disney characters.

And on their penultimate trip at SeaWorld’s Discovery Cove they got the chance to swim with dolphins. Some youngsters were lifted from their wheelchairs and into the water to get close to the dolphins before watching them do tricks.

Holly Hall, 11, from Woodbridge in East Suffolk, told the PA news agency: "It’s all been so surreal, we’ve done so many things that people wouldn’t normally get to do. Because everybody here has been in hospital it felt like we were always having less and now it’s like we get so much more, it’s really amazing."

The children were picked to join the holiday after living with serious illness, disability or trauma. They were waved off by celebrity couple Mark Wright and Michelle Keegan at Heathrow Airport on October 14 and are due to return today (24).

Dreamflight has taken more than 6,000 children on the annual trip since 1987, costing more than £1 million.

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References

1. ^{^} Horror M42 crash left girl, 8, unable to walk or talk for the rest of her life after lorry collided into family car (www.coventrytelegraph.net)
2. ^{^} here. (data.reachplc.com)