Nikki aged 4 is living with b-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. A huge animal lover, Nikki always wanted to be a vet and diligently cared for her animal teddies at home. While it was no surprise that Nikki wished to be a vet at Dublin Zoo, a special day of surprises was planned to make her wish come true.

After arriving at the zoo and being given her own vet kit, Nikki got straight to work feeding the pigs, sheep, penguins, orangutans and sea lions. Her next job was to help Dublin Zoo’s vet, Niamh with her morning examinations. First up was Jasper the rabbit – Nikki followed Niamh’s instruction and attentively checked Jasper’s eyes, ears and listened to his heartbeat. Happy he was in good shape, they moved to the elephants where Niamh commented that Nikki had natural apple throwing skills. The elephants seemed to think so too as they very close to Nikki to say thank you.

But a highlight of Nikki’s day was feeding her favourite animal, Max the Tiger. Standing securely behind the glass in a special reserved tiger feeding spot, Nikki’s eyes were glued as Max climbed a tree to devour his lunch – a horse leg!

Nikki’s mum told our Wish volunteers, “From the animal shaped towels, plush animal toys, Lion adoption pack and her own little vet kit to actually becoming a vet, if I was given an unlimited budget for ‘the best zookeeper day’ I wouldn’t have come close to the day planned for Nikki. It was just one amazing experience after another that Nikki will never forget.”

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