The destination of Air Transat flight TS903 on Dec. 10 was the North Pole, which made its passengers, kids and adults, giddy with excitement. For this was a flight to find Santa.
Organized by the Children's Wish Foundation, 100 children and their families were invited to board the plane at Vancouver International Airport, but not everything was smooth on the tarmac. The pilots first had to get around the Grinch on the runway before taking off and reaching cruising altitude. A half an hour into the 90-minute flight, a tremendous bump didn't just mean turbulence but also the arrival of Santa and his elves, straight from the cockpit.
During the flight, which circled the Lower Mainland, a throne was set up at the back of the plane and the children received gifts from the special visitor in a red suit.
Lynn Valley resident Diego Ibanez, 7, was among the passengers of flight TS903, and he jumped with excitement as he waited to board the plane. There was no doubt in his mind their mission to find Santa and bring him back to Vancouver would be successful.
Born with a genetic disorder, Diego had a liver transplant at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children when he was a toddler. On this day, there was no sign of frailty as he staged a dual between the two puppets on his hands, Santa and Frosty the Snowman.
Diego has fond memories of plane rides, particularly the one organized by the Children's Wish Foundation last year that sent him to Orlando, where he and his family embarked on a Disney Cruise.
While waiting for the Santa flight to board, his mother Maria recounted the highlight of the Orlando trip: "During the voyage, Mickey Mouse gave Diego the news he was going to have a baby sister."
Another North Shore resident, Kaelyn Thomson, 5, nervously anticipated finding Santa on this special flight. Her mother Tara was grateful to the Children's Wish Foundation for granting Kaelyn, a cancer survivor, her wish for a Disney Cruise two years ago.
"The cancer took away a year of her life," she said. "The cruise was a time for us to be together as a family without all the pokes and tests and stresses of being sick. It was a week to forget all that happened."
While the children waited to board the airplane, some listened to stories read by characters dressed as Disney princesses, while others had their faces painted and played with rescue dogs. On this festive day, thoughts of illness were a little farther away and in their place were joy, excitement, and the magic of life.
Deanna Regan's blog is at motherstonic.com
