It took her many years to apply and by the time she did Rachael Cox of Dunedin was granted one of the most original Make-A-Wish wishes yet – getting her own lipstick produced to help raise funds for CFNZ and Make-A-Wish New Zealand.
With the help of environmentally-friendly lipstick manufacturer, Karen Murrell, Rachael’s wish to visit a make-up factory came true – and with an even better result than expected.
The Make-A-Wish angels visited Rachael in March to tell her that her wish had been granted but she was not told of the secret plans to make a personalised lipstick for Rachael, which would be sold with a 50:50 split between CFNZ and Make-A-Wish.
Rachael had been asked to pick her favourite colour from a colour palette but just thought that meant she might be given a lipstick during the factory visit in Australia. When she was told that the purple/pink lipstick named Rachael’s Lipstick and with a beautiful sketch of her on the packet, was going to be put in production with funds going to Make-A-Wish and CFNZ, she became overwhelmed with emotion.
“When Karen told me the profits were going to Cystic Fibrosis New Zealand and Make-A-Wish, I full-on cried and it was also very exciting,” she says. “It makes me so happy that my wish has been given back to others.”
Rachael (18) is studying pharmacology and art at Otago University with the help of a $40K scholarship and waited for years before deciding to apply to Make-A-Wish for her life-changing wish.
“I hadn’t wanted to do it as a child because I thought other people were worse off and I didn’t want to make a big deal of having cystic fibrosis.
“I was really excited about the idea of visiting a make-up factory. I love make up and interested in chemistry and I thought seeing the production would be hugely fascinating,” says Rachael who got to see a big vat of her lipstick being made.
“Everyone was so kind and so generous, it was beyond the reach of my imagination,” says Rachael who left with a bag of her own lipstick. “I want to thank everyone involved. It was a once in a lifetime experience.
“I thought it almost made it worth having cystic fibrosis – and I definitely say ‘almost’.”
Karen Murrell, also pictured below, was delighted to help make Rachael’s wish come true. This was truly such a special day and seeing the look on Rachael’s face when she realised what was really going on was absolutely priceless and one that I will never forget.”
Read more about Rachael's wish and watch a video of her amazing day on the Make-A-Wish website.
