As sweet and incredibly heartwarming gestures go, this is pretty high up there. In the last few months, British Airways has been surprising passengers through its ‘BA Magic’ campaign and making dreams come true. And we think they may have just surpassed themselves.
We’ve already seen British Airways help a man propose to his girlfriend at 30,000 feet, get an aunt flown to Singapore to see her nephew perform in Priscilla Queen of the Desert and reunited a newlywed couple who had been forced to live on opposite sides of the world.
The airline says because travel can be so special it is inviting customers to write in with their stories using the hashtag #bamagic so that they can select special people to surprise and delight. And that’s exactly what Rays of Sunshine – a charity which helps seriously ill children – did.
Majorie Nakmulli-Mukiibi, a thirteen-year-old school girl, who lives in the deprived area of East Ham in London suffers from a rare form of cancer called Hodgkin lymphoma. According to Cancer Research UK, only 2,100 people are diagnosed in the UK with Hodgkin lymphoma each year – accounting for just 1% of new cancer cases.
Having recently finished a gruelling course of chemotherapy, Majorie was telling her mum about her dream to one day become Cabin Crew. But BA decided that Majorie shouldn’t have to wait and made her dream come true sooner than she could ever have imagined.
Majorie thought she was being treated to a day out at KidZania in London when she was suddenly surprised by a real-life member of British Airways cabin crew and whisked off to Heathrow Airport to work her very first flight.
Ignoring the potential for accusations of child slavery, BA got Majorie to take part in a real safety demonstration, donning a life jacket and pointing out the exits in front of 160 passengers. She then got to take part in a meal service and even read out at an onboard announcement.
“I’ve always wanted to be British Airways cabin crew, and today my dream came true!” explained Majorie.
“From the moment I found out what was really going on, I couldn’t stop smiling, I was so excited. One of my favourite parts was serving food and drink to the customers. I’m really proud of all that I achieved.”
And to complete the day, BA had one last surprise up their sleeves for Majorie. The airline’s chief executive, Alex Cruz presented her with her very own set of ‘Wings’ – a momento she’ll no doubt hold onto forever.
Check out the video BA put together about Majorie’s very first flight as cabin crew:
