Hi, my name is Marina and I wished for a custom surfboard. I wished for this because I got my first surfboard when I was seven and now it has holes, cracks, and falling apart. But I also wanted a wish that would go on every day for many years to come. My board was designed and shaped by a professional board creator and my wish granter Katie helped design it as well. Though from the very beginning I had the hardest time choosing a wish, my wish granters were there with me the entire time. I am still and probably always will be in awe of how much everyone at Make-A-Wish did for me. It honestly means the world.
The board has a crab on it to represent cancer. DLBCNHL stands for Diffuse Large B Cell Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma. The lime green in the waves is the color of the Non Hodgkins Lymphoma ribbon. The bio hazard was a joke because chemo would come out of my pores and my mom couldn't touch me so I joked that I was a bio hazard. I wanted my board to tell my story in a way only the people close to me and I would understand.
The day of my wish was amazing. Words can not describe how happy I was and how happy the memory still makes me. There were many people there to show support including the Melbourne High School surf team and so many more people there. My board was better than I ever could have imagined, and I can never thank everyone at Make-A-Wish enough. Now when I look back at having cancer, it’s not bad memories, it’s good ones – and not because I got a new surfboard. Because Make-A-Wish made me realize how truly amazing people are out there. It gave me friends and so much more.
For a video about Marina's wish, please click here.
Wish Granters: Katelin Shahzade & Dulce Stephens
Referred by Elisa Jones, her child life specialist
Wish adopted by Drs. Roger & Ginger Medel