Reindeers, sleigh rides, snowmen, snowball fights, being pulled by huskies and meeting Santa in his cottage.. but the best Christmas gift of all are those memories we will treasure for all time
Children on dream journey that changed their lives
They were described as Scotland’s most courageous kids when they were chosen for a trip of a lifetime to Lapland by the Sunday Mail.
Identified after a nationwide search to find the bravest children in the country, the group were taken on a magical journey to Santa’s homeland in 2004.
The trip was led by SAS tough guy Eddie Stone and featured reindeer and husky sleigh rides and plenty of snowball fights.
Now 15 years on, the kids who met Santa recall how the experience changed each of their lives.
Brian Clark, 19, from Kirkintilloch
I was only four when I went to Lapland with my mum so I only remember bits and pieces about the trip but the memories I do have are very vivid – like riding snow mobiles in the dark and being pulled along in a sleigh by a team of reindeers.
It was magical. It was also the first time I had been on a plane.
I was diagnosed with cancer when I was 10 months old and chemotherapy for the tumour left my blood count dangerously low. It took 100 blood transfusions to save my life.
I don’t remember very much of that time as I was so young but my mum says I was very ill and she feared she was going to lose me. Although, I was sti ll being fed through a tube in my stomach when I was in Lapland, you would never have guessed there was anything wrong with me as I was bouncing about in the snow. I loved it.
Luckily, my cancer never returned and I’ve been healthy ever since. I am now in my second year at Stirling University studying psychology and I’m looking at going into teaching or psychiatry.
I’m also a drag queen and perform as Ann T Biotic. I’m just starting out but would love to appear on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK a few seasons down the line. Life is good.
Aaron Ord, 22, from Edinburgh
My dad Conway was my best friend so the memories I have of the fun we had together in Lapland are precious as he died eight years later.
I was seven when we made the trip and my dad, who had cystic fibrosis, was recovering from a double lung transplant but you never would have known.
I remember every moment like it was yesterday. When he was really ill, we spoke about building a snowman together and we got to do that and have a snowball fight. It was a life-changing experience.
Losing my dad was heartbreaking but his
transplant gave my mum Debbie and me 10 extra years together and you can’t complain about that. Dad was big into football and he got to see me play for Livingston, Rangers and Hearts but when he passed away, my love of the game died too.
He also loved music and I now DJ under the name Aaron Conway in his memory. I’m in my third year of an events management degree at Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret University, which I know would make him proud.
My dad may be gone but my memories of him, especially in Lapland, live on.
Selina Mungall, 26, from Glasgow
I was 11 back in 2004 and going to Lapland was the biggest thing I had ever done. I will never forget it. I still have the teddy Santa gave me.
My mum nominated me for the competition as she has mobility difficulties and back then I was her main carer and she wanted to thank me, which I found really touching.
She was supposed to be coming with me but she was taken into hospital the week before and my stepmum came instead. It seems a lifetime ago and a lot has happened since then.
In 2018, I graduated from Glasgow Caledonian Univeristy with a degree in international business with human resoures and I now work in HR at the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research. Last
November I got married to David, 34, at the West Brewery in Glasgow. I’ve told David all about Lapland and just how magical it was. I hope if we have kids, we will be able to take them there too.
Fiona MacMillan, 20, from Erskine
I was undergoing chemo and radiotherapy for a malignant tumour in my ear when we went to Lapland. I had no idea how ill I was as I only remember the fun we had. Being pulled by huskies through a forest, meeting a Finnish witch in a teepee who blessed us with charcoal and meeting Santa in a cottage in the woods – it was like a fairytale and I giggled the whole time.
My mum finds it hard to speak about that time as she feared it would be my last Christmas but she says Lapland is the one good memory she has and doesn’t mind talking about. Luckily, my cancer has not come back.
The following year, I wrote about how much the trip meant to me for a competition and I won the chance to switch on the Erskine Christmas Lights.
I’ve just started a new job with Arnold Clark, which I love, but my real passion is singing. I have my own YouTube channel and would love to be able to make a professional career of it one day. I may have been only five when I went to Lapland but it is one of those life experiences my family and I will never forget.
Caitlin McCracken, 19, from Dunfermline
I was only four when we went to Lapland. It was the year after I lost my little sister Mallory. She died in December 2003 from a heart condition, when she was just four months old.
My Christmas wish in 2004 was for Santa to bring my sister back as the angels had had her long enough. My gran had entered the competition, hoping the trip would help take my mind off the anniversary, which it did. We had the best time.
We bought a little red-and-green reindeer for Mallory, which I put up on the mantlepiece every Christmas and it brings back memories of my sister and Lapland. My little sister Cassidy never got to meet Mallory but we talk about her a lot.
When I was 16, we discovered I also had a heart condition and I ended up in hospital. Luckily, they were able to fix mine but it gave us all a scare.
I’m now in my second year of an English literature degree at Dundee University and am hoping to become an English teacher. We talk about our Lapland adventure every Christmas and this will continue for years to come.