Real life Dream stories

Rose-Anna's story

Rose-Anna, a young woman from St. Thomas, Ontario, has had a life-threatening illness since age 11. Her health problems have presented her with many challenges in the day-to-day, including poor vision and a number of other health issues. She has had to undergo many painful surgeries to prevent her condition from deteriorating. In spite of it all, she never lost her love of dolphins and her dream to swim with them.

"I'm so excited. I love dolphins and so does my mom," said Rose-Anna just before she and her mom took off for her dream vacation. The two stayed at an all-inclusive Cancun resort for seven days and enjoyed an envigorating swim with dolphins.

"It was awesome. It was really, really hot, like 35 degrees, all week. They got a videotape of my swim. We were in the water for an hour and a half with one dolphin, she was about 18 months, so she was just a baby. The Dolphin Discovery people were really, really nice. They're sending me all kinds of pictures. And we went shopping at some of the markets they have down there and I climbed halfway up a pyramid."

Rose-Anna's dream has been made possible by the St. Thomas Golf and Country Club, through its involvement with the County Heritage/Stevenson-Hunt Sunshine Golf Classic. As St. Thomas Golf and Country Club General Manager Karen Gilles puts it, "It is a pleasure to be involved with the Sunshine Golf Classic, but it is an honour to fulfill a dream."

Sunshine salutes the St. Thomas Golf and Country Club, the County Heritage/Stevenson-Hunt Sunshine Golf Classic, and everyone across Canada who work so hard to make dreams come true for kids and young people like Rose-Anna. And thanks to Dolphin Discovery for making the swim the highlight of Rose-Anna's dream trip!

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Sunshine Dreams for Kids makes dreams come true for children ages 3 to 19 who are challenged by severe physical disabilities or life-threatening illnesses.