Amelia’s Cake Boss trip a sweet dream

They’ve been through sick days, hospital stays and hair loss together, but friends Ashleigh Kiernan and Amelia Deane now also share the joy of having had their wishes come true.

Ashleigh, 11, from Lucan, Co Dublin and Amelia, 10, from Navan, Co Meath, met in Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, where they were both being treated for leukaemia.

But they were to discover they had something else in common when they both got to experience their dream adventures thanks to the Make A Wish charity.

“My wish was to swim with dolphins,” says Ashleigh, who was flown with her family to Florida, where they spent a week at the renowned Give Kids The World resort and took dips with the dolphins in nearby Discovery Cove.

“I was the first to swim across the lagoon with the dolphins,” she says, delighting at the memory.

“It made me feel very happy because I always wanted to touch a dolphin. It felt great.”

Amelia, meanwhile, presented the Make A Wish team with the challenge of helping her meet her hero, the flamboyant star of the hit American reality TV show, Cake Boss, Buddy Valastro.

Amelia and her family were flown to Hoboken, New Jersey, to see Buddy in his famous store, Carlo’s Bake Shop, but little did she know that she was to get much more than a handshake and a photograph.

“Buddy just burst through the doors and said: ‘Who’s ready to make some cake?’ ” she recalls.

The result was a two-tier masterpiece of chocolate and vanilla with white fondant and zebra stripes, topped by turquoise and purple marble cake, topped again by two fabulous icing sculptures of Buddy and Amelia.

Both girls say they never thought once of their illness during their adventures.

“It was the best trip ever,” says Ashleigh, who loves looking back over the photos and other souvenirs she brought home.

Amelia says she has now been inspired to open her own cake shop with her mother when she is older and has a message for the public out there. “It would be good if people would donate to Make A Wish to help grant other children’s wishes,” she says.