Oakville teen helps Wish-It-Forward after meeting idol during cancer battle

Thirteen-year-old Lilly Coulter is working hard on something she’s extremely passionate about. She managed to persuade her mom Shelley and younger sister Scarlett to help her make and sell hair scrunchies for $4.

Lilly wants to Wish-It-Forward after receiving a devastating diagnosis in October 2018.

“I had acute Myeloid Leukemia also known as AML,” explained Lilly. “When my wish was granted and I got to go on my trip and meet my idol, I thought there’s some other kid waiting for a wish, so I wanted to make sure that happens for someone who needs it.”

The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada, whose mission is to fulfill the wishes of children diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses, made Lilly’s wish come true last June in Portugal.

“I wish was to meet my idol Ed Sheeran, and when I did, I just cried and he gave me a hug he was really nice,” she remembered. “My favourite movie is A Fault in our Stars, and there’s a song Ed wrote for that movie so he changed his whole set list before the his show to include that song and dedicated it to me.”

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“I was just sitting crying in the audience and he said, ‘if you’re out there, this is for you,'” recalled Lilly. “ It made me forget that I was sick.”

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It was to say the least a trip of a lifetime and a life-changing journey on her path to recovery.

“My daughters personality and her demeanor went from being this shell of a child in hospital barely recognizable before our trip, to where we hit the reset button in Portugal during Sheeran’s  European Tour,” said  Shelley Lewis, Lilly’s mom.

One wish granted has fueled Lilly’s close-knit family to make 500 hair scrunchies, raising more than $2800 to date with a goal of $10,000 and all proceeds going directly to the Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada.

“My sisters wish helped  all of us overcome part of her cancer journey,” said Scarlett Coulter, Lilly’s sister. “When we started to make the hair scrunchies and were raising money for Children’s Wish, we just knew it would make somebody else that happy like how Lilly was happy.”

“I feel satisfied that I’m making a difference for another kid,” Lilly said.