Terminally ill teen gets to fly in jet thanks to police

18-year-old leukaemia patient flies on a private jet for the first time as police and the Children’s Wish Society make his dream come true.

Ghaayathiraan (second from left) on board the police jet to Langkawi today.

GEORGE TOWN: The wish of an 18-year-old teenager suffering from leukaemia to fly on a private jet came true today – thanks to the police.

Butterworth native Ghaayathiraan Ramachandran was flown from Penang to Langkawi and spent slightly more than an hour peeking out at the Andaman Sea, with his mother V Geetha Devi and sister Swathidharani in tow.

After the flight, Ghaayathiraan was on cloud nine, telling reporters that it had been “awesome”. He spent some time sitting in the cockpit while being briefed by the pilot on the basics of flying.

His dream was made possible thanks to the Children’s Wish Society (CWS) and the Royal Malaysian Police Air Wing.

Technically, this was his second time on an aeroplane as Permatang Pauh Umno chief Mohd Zaidi Mohd Said had taken him on a trip to Subang on a Firefly flight yesterday.

The jet at the Penang International Airport today.

Ghaayathiraan was also taken to eat at several locations around the Klang Valley before returning home.

Ghaayathiraan suffers from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many immature lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell).

He has had the disease since he was 13 and is currently under palliative care.

CWS Malaysia vice-president Teoh Teik Hoong, who accompanied Ghaayathiraan and his family on the flight, said the society had received his wish about two weeks ago and immediately contacted the police for assistance.

“We thought it would be a great idea to give Ghaayathiraan a different flying experience by engaging with our men in blue to fulfil his wish.

“We are happy that we fulfilled his wish and he was smiling from ear to ear after the flight. We were blessed with a smile from him,” Teoh said.

CWS Malaysia is a national society which fulfils the wishes of terminally ill children across the country -FMT