Gallery: Survivor Chris meets the stars on charity trip
A BOY who nearly died in a motor-racing crash has been on a whirlwind trip to Canada.
Chris Stewart and his family enjoyed a holiday of a lifetime in Montreal – and got to meet singer Celine Dion.
Chris is one of 12 young people from across the world to have been chosen as faces for an appeal to raise money for children's charity Unicef and the CHU Sainte-Justine the Toronto hospital for sick children.
Chris, 14, suffered an 'internal decapitation' during a motor racing crash nearly two years ago but thanks to the emergency services and pioneering surgery he made a full recovery.
The Faces of Hope 2008 campaign has been organised by Canadian charity Rseau Familles D'aujourd'hui and will include a book with all 12 children's stories, a calendar and greetings cards with pictures of the children by Heidi Hollinger.
The children were picked by Canadian Reader's Digest which heard about Chris' story from an article done by their British counterparts.
Mum Debbie, of Gosport Road, Fareham, said: 'They contacted us in March but it wasn't until about three weeks before we were due to go that they confirmed everything. We couldn't believe it.'
Debbie, Chris, his brother Patrick, 12, and sister Sophie, 10, went on the trip.
Each of the 12 'faces' got to ask for a wish – and it was no surprise the Neville Lovett School pupil wanted to be taken around in a Ferrari.
But the most nerve-racking moment for mum came when Chris went on his first rollercoaster since the accident during a group visit to the Six Flags theme park.
'He had been told he could go on rides like this by the doctors but had not wanted to before,' Debbie added. 'I was in tears by the end of it.'
Chris said: 'It was really cool. I got to go around the town and visit everywhere in a Ferrari, which was great.
'I made a couple of good friends – Donald lost his whole family in Hurricane Katrina, and now lives in Texas. I think we're going to try to visit him in a couple of years.
'Celine was very nice but I don't really know her music. We talked about my accident, and my family.'
The book is launched in Canada this week, and the charity hopes to announce international release dates soon.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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