This year there were several departures from the norm. For the first time wishes were granted to a dog, a child with no name, and to bereaved families who didn't know they were on the list. In the last case, the Christmas Wish working committee got together with Pascal Moloi, City Manager for the City of Jo'burg to organise the funeral costs of the three children who were killed tragically in the flash floods in the city last week. Doves Funeral Services agreed to cover all the funeral requirements.
Mansfield commented, "This is not a wish because no-one would ever wish for this. But maybe it will help make the situation of the parents a little easier in this tragic time."
Janine Dicks came to the attention of the Rude Awakening when she wrote a letter begging for help. She wanted to get some publicity for her company Alphacom because she let her manager down a few days before. Ever keen to help the community, the RAW team put her out in a bikini in peak hour traffic to hand out the company's water bottles. Shortly after that, the team received a letter that she has a form of lymphatic cancer and cannot afford the treatment needed to get better. Absa's Nick Cairns offered to sponsor all her treatment needed to get her better.
The last wish to be fulfilled was for Maureen Lacock. Her son Sheldon recently died of a heroin overdose and she herself is suffering from cataracts. She had no money to make either of her dreams come true: to get her sight back and the other, to make a documentary about her son's battle with drugs so that she could show it to other children who might be in the same predicament. Four sponsors were needed to make this dream come true and four came through. Helen Stockton from Optiklin Eye Hospital, together with an anonymous ophthalmologist, sponsored all professional services and hospital costs to help Maureen to regain her sight. Endemol agreed to make the video for Maureen and the South African Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency agreed to help Maureen under their banner.
Over 35 wishes were granted in total. Others that brought lumps to radio listeners throats every morning in Jo'burg, were:
