My uncle Ben has no idea that British Airways are taking me,
Adrian and our three children to surprise him on his wedding day.
My name is Cheryl Lawley,
I’m 36 and I have three amazing, beautiful children.
In 2016, I was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
The day I found out I had a tumour,
I felt like my world had ended.
Everything changed dramatically.
My three kids are the only thing that really matters in all of this.
To sit down and tell your children that,
you know, you might not be here for much longer, is a
difficult thing.
It is going to be hard. It’s going to be a long road
and it’s going to be quite scary but you try and
and block out the more negative things, but you know
you are going to have to…
You are going to have to face, one day,
sitting their with my children
trying to support them with what they’re going to be going through.
Uncle Ben. My amazing uncle Ben.
He was like my, my kind of big brother growing up.
I was so close to him. I was
gutted when he moved to Australia
but obviously I was so happy for him to be living the life
the way that he wanted to live it.
So I had my operation in September 2017
and my uncle Ben out in Australia,
he arranged some charity nights and
did so much fundraising and
he actually flew over from Australia and when I woke up from my surgery,
he was at my bedside and
he was there every day for weeks and weeks.
He changed things for me.
Kids?
- Yeah? - Would you like to come and join us?
You know how uncle Ben and uncle Andrew are getting married?
Yeah…
Well, British Airways
are going to fly us all out there to surprise them on their wedding day.
We’re flying to Australia!
No way!
- Happy? - Yeah!
I just can’t believe it.
Me too! Come here.
- Oh my God.
Love you.
For something like this to happen from British Airways, it’s…
It’s memories. Something that… Sorry.
It’s memories that we’re gonna be able to make and have as a family,
to look at, for the kids to look at
when Cheryl’s gone.
Are you happy?
It’s amazing.
He flew over and he was here on my big day.
I can’t wait to do the same for him.
Hi there. How we doing today? Is it Cheryl?
Yes.
Lovely to meet you, how we doing? My name’s Anisha.
If you’d like to follow me,
I’ll take you to the First Wing as you’ll be flying in Business Class today.
Come on follow me, let’s get you checked in.
What you going to do when you get to Australia then?
- We’re going to our uncle’s wedding. - He doesn’t know we’re coming.
Cheryl, this trip is not meant to be just a special surprise for your uncle,
it’s meant to be a trip of a lifetime for you.
So, we’re going to start by taking you
for a special Heathrow personal shopping experience
to find you something very special to wear to the wedding.
Thank you!
Oh my god!
Thank you, thank you so much. You deserve it.
Now you’re definitely going to upstage me, mum.
I really like it. I really like it.
Have fun. Bye! Take care.
Oh my God.
Oh, look at your little goodie bags.
This is amazing. This is amazing!
Look, it’s got my name on it.
It’s amazing, it’s shocking.
I’ve never been on Business Class and I’d never of expected to.
I feel like I could have floated here on a cloud myself.
I’m so overwhelmed by
the trouble everyone’s gone to and how special I feel.
Hello! Welcome. Hi.
Hi Cheryl, lovely to have you with us.
- Would you like to see your room? - Yes please!
Come on in.
Welcome to the Residence by Kerrie Hess.
Oh my God!
This is amazing.
- It keeps going and going. - Oh my gosh!
Mum! There’s gingerbreads with our names on!
We’re going to make some amazing memories and to do it in a place like this…
We’ll never forget this. This is going to be something that
we cherish forever.
Oh my God.
I just can’t believe this is really happening, this is amazing.
We’re here and we’re ready to go. Ready to go and see the look on his face.
How you feeling?
Excited! Can’t wait.
Cant wait to see him and give him a big cuddle.
Can you help me a sec?
What are you up to?
Coming!
What are you up to?!
Look at you.
Love you. Are you happy to see me?
God, are you kidding me?
- Love you loads. - Love you too.
Oh my God!
You changed things for me. And you moved the world for me.
And British Airways have helped me be here for you.
- Oh my God, thank you so much.
- Love you.
How exciting, you’re in Australia.
Let’s go get married!
To bring my kids here and to see this and to be part of this…
It’s just… magical. It’s made my life.
I never thought I could experience this
and I feel special
and that’s thanks to everyone around me
and without what British Airways has done for me,
I certainly wouldn’t be here.
I don’t even think it’s sunk in yet
which is why I keep hugging her every time I see her.
None of us know what the future holds
so for her to be here is just amazing. Amazing.
It’s been a stressful time for everyone but I feel like
we’ve grew as a family
and we’ve changed our outlook on life and how we go about doing things
and I feel like, life maybe shorter and
things may change but we
as a family are stronger and
we’ve pulled through it and it’s, honestly, it’s amazing.
I want them to be happy.
I want to make so many memories with them that
they never forget me.
And, Adrian and the kids,
they are a great little family unit and
I just want them all to live life to the fullest
and do everything that they wanna do and
I know they love each other and that’s all that matters.