You have to make life a dream and a dream a reality.
So my dream of a little girl was to fly planes.
So today, this dream has become my daily life,
since, for 11 years, I pilot A320s.
And I had not dreamed of being there at all.
(Laughter)
But sometimes, there are causes beyond us.
Realize your dreams, it’s really wonderful,
unfortunately, not everyone can do it
from the cruel pitfalls of life, such as sickness.
When it comes to a child’s illness,
it is even more cruel and especially unjust.
Eight years ago I met a lady who turned my life upside down.
She had created an association
to make dreams come true for sick and disabled children.
She had created it in memory of her son
and she wanted to help families with a destiny similar to hers.
I was, of course, touched by the cause, moved, and I felt very selfish.
So I wanted to help them,
because I asked myself is: “And you?
What are you doing for others? “
So I started selling stuffed toys
for the benefit of this association.
I sold them to my colleagues –
locked up with me on the plane, they had no other choice
(Laughter)
than to listen to me and eventually to buy a stuffed toy.
It worked so well
that I have been nicknamed “the teddy bear driver”.
Plush after teddy,
I got more involved, I started going to the hospital
and I realized the first child’s dream.
Two and a half years ago, she encouraged us to create an association
to continue his fight.
So with my family, we founded the association “Dreams Fairy”.
Our goal: to support seriously ill or severely disabled children
whatever their pathology.
There are many people who are affected by what we do on a daily basis,
but sometimes we can ask ourselves:
“What is it really good for? “
What is the impact on the disease of achieving a dream?
In theory, one could imagine
it’s just a little bit of well-being,
a fleeting moment,
an escape from the disease.
The reality is even more incredible.
Realizing the dream of a sick child is more than just a gift.
It’s a gesture that has a significant impact on a child’s life,
about his family and the health care system.
There is a Canadian association like ours
who conducted a study to that effect.
Four major impacts came out,
and the results are very impressive!
The first impact is the emotional impact.
You have to know that it is important to live
moments of happiness in these difficult times.
It upsets me to talk to you, for example, about Kevin’s mom,
who recently called us to realize his son’s dream.
What she told us is that he needs a moment of happiness
because today it’s been 14 years since he fights against treatments
and he can not take it anymore.
He does not support them anymore.
Realize the dream of a sick child,
it is to make him happy for the first time since often a long time.
What came out, what we see on the graph,
it increases the level of happiness and hope perceived by the child.
A sick child is an earthquake that affects everyone.
Parents, children …
And there are additional problems that come to be added.
As if the disease was not enough …
Financial problems,
when one parent has to put aside his career
to accompany his child to the hospital.
The fact also to allow them to realize the dream in family,
it allows them to tighten family ties,
to better cope with the disease,
and quite stupid to have a topic of conversation during the care.
Because who supports the child on a daily basis?
It’s his family.
So his well-being has a real impact on the child’s morale.
The second impact is the impact of distraction.
Not only does it allow them to think less about treatment and illness,
but many studies have shown
that distraction inhibits pain signals perceived by the body.
That’s why we chose to offer everyday
several animations in different hospital services.
And regularly, the care staff informs us of the beneficial effects
they observe about the children and the course of their treatment.
To give you an example, 3 years ago, we set up a musical entertainment
on the 6th floor of the Timone hospital in Marseille.
In this service, there is a little boy who must wear continuously
respiratory assistance.
Except that he does not support it.
And since the musician comes,
he told the service educator that he could better accept it.
And that’s great.
That’s the physical impact.
Not only, to realize their dream or to have animations
allows them to think less about treatments,
to better live the disease
and better support everyday life in the hospital,
but in addition, it gives an energy to the children.
And the immune system needs a big dose
to fight daily against the disease.
It has also been observed, through the dreams that we realized.
In particular, a year and a half ago,
a nurse from Montpellier hospital called us,
she wanted us to realize Taha’s dream.
Taha dreamed of meeting the actors of “Helen and boys”.
(Laughter)
Eh yes !
So, it was necessary to act quickly, because the days of Taha were counted.
When the actors moved, his mom called us.
So, here is Taha with the actors.
She called us weeping with joy,
and she said, “It’s amazing, thank you!
Thank you, because Taha had been in bed for 3 weeks and he could not get up.
Today he got up, walked, and danced. “
After this moment of happiness, he clung to life
for over a year while it was unexpected.
The fourth impact is a lasting impact.
Not only, they live a moment of intense happiness on the spot,
but in addition, the effects are beneficial in the long run
because there are happy memories that [arise]
while the period is particularly difficult.
So the last impact,
the lasting effect …
8 years ago, when I started to realize children’s dreams,
the first dream I realized was that of Jean-Baptiste.
Jean-Baptiste was my age,
He was hospitalized at San Salvadour hospital in Hyères.
He had “locked-in syndrome”.
I do not know if people know what it is.
He was completely immured in his own body,
and he could only blink.
So he communicated like that.
It is extremely difficult to live.
He was passionate about literature and he had written a collection of poems
blinking.
He had been awarded, edited and at the end of his collection,
the nurses of the hospital wanted to make him happy
and have therefore organized a book signing as the great authors.
They organized this at the library of Hyères
and they asked us to contact Grand Corps Malade
because he was a fan of it.
Grand Corps Malade came, it was a moment … extraordinary.
This moment was filmed, mediatized and Jean-Baptiste watched this video
everyday.
There is one last impact, which is not in the study.
This is the impact this has on the volunteers of the associations.
So, I’m going to speak for myself, so I know what I’m talking about.
When I started making dreams of sick children,
when I started to invest myself in this association,
I did it because I wanted to make a little bit of happiness
that life gives me every day
and because I thought it was useful.
But I had not imagined the effect it would have on my own life.
I had absolutely no idea how happy it would make me
to help others.
I had not imagined all the emotions I was going to feel,
all the friendly bonds that were going to tighten,
because this association is …
a group of friends.
And I had not imagined how much it would upset my life.
So, I take this opportunity to thank all the people who help us
and that allow us to make this possible.
Because there are moments when we put pressure on ourselves,
like now for example.
(Laughter)
And there are times when we put it,
because you have to raise the necessary funds to be able to finance all that.
We must come to contact the artists
because we never want to disappoint people who place hope in us.
So to conclude, I would just like to invite you to share
two dreams with me.
The first is to imagine that everyone can one day
to invest in a charitable or humanitarian activity,
one hour, per month, per year,
a Euro.
But imagine the number of lives that could be impacted and improved.
And the second dream is to imagine that solidarity,
that the love of one’s neighbor would become a fundamental value
that we would pass on to our children.
Could not we make this world a little better?
And if we invited our children to participate with us
to the realization of dreams?
Could not we teach them
what to give is better than to take,
that to heal is better than to hurt,
and to help is better than to fight.
I thank you for listening to me.
(Applause)
”
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