This Wish Week, one mother has told of the amazing experience her daughter had at Harry Potter Studios London.

Wish Week is Make-A-Wish Ireland’s annual fundraising week, which raises money to grant life-changing wishes to children facing critical illnesses nationwide.

Rebecca Randle’s daughter Maisie suffers from spina bifida and hydrocephalus, which limits her mobility and can cause a range of other symptoms.

“She’d walk about in the classroom but then out in the yard she’d use the wheelchair,” she told Moncrieff.

“So, she just kind of decides herself how she’s feeling on the day and stuff.

"She wouldn’t have any feeling from her ankles down, so she wouldn't move her ankles or toes or anything like that.”

Spina bifida is caused by a birth defect in which a baby's spine and spinal cord does not develop properly in the womb, causing a gap in the spine.

Hydrocephalus meanwhile is a condition in which spinal fluid builds up within the brain, which can cause pressure and swelling of the skull.

This means that Maisie has to catharise five times a day, and could also potentially suffer from bowel issues, headaches, vomiting, pain in the eyes and behavioural issues in the future.

Emotional impact

Ms Randle said alongside her physical symptoms, her daughter has also struggled with the emotional impact of her conditions.

“She knew that like, ‘I’ve got spina bifida, I’ve got hydrocephalus,’ but emotionally she couldn’t really gauge, like, ‘Why me?’,” she said.

“That really took a toll on her, so we went through a while where she didn’t want to use the wheelchair, she didn’t want to use the walker.

“She wears AFO’s, they’re a leg brace kind of thing; she didn’t want to wear them and she didn’t want to be different, she just didn’t want to have spina bifida anymore, she wanted to be like everybody else.”

Harry Potter Studio Tour London. Image: Hemis / Alamy. 13 March 2012

According to Ms Randle, there were many options considered for Maisie’s wish – such as a room makeover – but given that her favourite book at the time was Harry Potter, there was one obvious answer.

“They kind of said that it’s very obvious from talking to Maisie what she’d like to do,” she said.

Ms Randle said Maisie “went around open-mouthed the whole time” she was on her tour.

Main image: Rebecca Randle (L) and Seán Moncrieff (R).