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Westham couple grants wishes

Local teenager in London, England thanks to Make-A-Wish donation

Wendie Elliott is helping make wishes come true.

Through the longtime Westham Island resident and her husband Dave's donation of $6,000, a Delta teenager is getting to go on a trip to London by way of the Make-a-Wish Foundation's B.C. and Yukon chapter.

Elliott is a former staff member with the foundation.

"I got to know so many of the volunteers and the staff and the families and just how dedicated the volunteers are as wish-granters or fundraisers or whatever they take on - they do it with such passion," she said.

Their latest donation will mark the fourth wish the Elliotts have supported in the last two years through the organization's Adopt-A-Wish program.

North Delta's Maggie Smith-Salzl, 14, gets to go on a seven-night trip to London with her family. She was set to leave Thursday.

"It's going to be fun," she said earlier this week.

Smith-Salzl, who has a brain tumour, is planning on seeing Les Misérables and Billy Elliot the Musical, checking out the London Eye and doing some shopping on her trip.

"She's pretty stoked about the whole thing," said Loretta Smith, Maggie's mom.

Smith-Salzl was diagnosed in 2007, has had four brain surgeries and an eye surgery and has undergone chemotherapy since January, 2010.

She is writing a novel, has created a series of dolls, loves to cook and is very optimistic about a full recovery.

She'll be entering Grade 10 at Seaquam Secondary in September.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants wishes to kids three to 17 that are coping with a life-threatening medical condition.