A 16 year old American girl with Cystic Fibrosis, Emily Lawrence, will be able to get take her dream vacation in Iceland, thanks to the generosity of dozens of companies in the Icelandic tourism industry. The flood of generosity came after an Icelandic acquaintance of Emily's mother asked for ideas for affordable tours and activities Emily and her parents could do during their vacation.
Helpful strangers and the power of social media
An Icelandic woman, Margrét Inga Gísladóttir, who has a one year old daughter with the same disease as Emily, knows Emily's mother from a chat board for mothers of children with the disease. When she heard of Emily's dream to visit Iceland she thought she had to do her best to help the dream come true.
Margrét told the local TV station Stöð 2 that it's very expensive to care for a child with a chronic disease like Cystic Fibrosis in the US, and that as a consequence Emily's mother has had to prioritize. Paying for medical care has had to come first, while meeting Emily's needs for other things, like travel and adventure have had to come second.
They wanted to try to make the trip before Emily's disease had progressed too far and come while she was still able to travel. The disease has already taken it's toll and she was recently hospitalized, and she is quite sick. But this is her dream, to come here.
Looking for a dream vacation on a budget
Emily and her parents had planned to visit Iceland on July 6-9, but were looking for affordable tours to take during their stay. At the top of Emily's list was to go horseback riding and to visit an ice cave.
On Saturday Margrét posted a question to a Facebook group used by people who work in the Icelandic tourism industry, explaining Emily's condition and her dream, asking if people could come up with suggestions for affordable activities or ideas for how to put together her dream vacation for three, but on a budget.
Tour operators, hotels, guesthouses and restaurants chip in
Margrét had not been expecting the avalanche of offers for free tours, but the post quickly became the top item in the group, and within hours Margrét had been swamped with dozens of messages and ideas from businesses in the tourism industry offering their help.
Emily and her mother were offered horse riding trips, super jeep tours, whale watching and cave exploration trips. They have also been offered to stay for free at hotels and guesthouses, while restaurants around Iceland have offered them to dine out for free. Offers were still coming in late Sunday evening, long after Emily and her mother had received more offers than they could take up during a vacation three or fourt times longer than their quick stop over in July.
Moved by the geneorosity
Emily and her mother told Stöð 2 that they were ecstatic and deeply moved by the generosity. Emily's mother said that she had not always been able to do all the things for Emily that she would have liked to:
From a mom, it means so much, to have this opportunity to help her live out a dream that she has, so thank you so much to everyone who has stepped foreward and offered so many generous opportunities, and we just can't wait to be there.
A 16 year old American girl with Cystic Fibrosis, Emily Lawrence, will be able to get take her dream vacation in Iceland, thanks to the generosity of dozens of companies in the Icelandic tourism industry. The flood of generosity came after an Icelandic acquaintance of Emily's mother asked for ideas for affordable tours and activities Emily and her parents could do during their vacation.
Helpful strangers and the power of social media
An Icelandic woman, Margrét Inga Gísladóttir, who has a one year old daughter with the same disease as Emily, knows Emily's mother from a chat board for mothers of children with the disease. When she heard of Emily's dream to visit Iceland she thought she had to do her best to help the dream come true.
Margrét told the local TV station Stöð 2 that it's very expensive to care for a child with a chronic disease like Cystic Fibrosis in the US, and that as a consequence Emily's mother has had to prioritize. Paying for medical care has had to come first, while meeting Emily's needs for other things, like travel and adventure have had to come second.
They wanted to try to make the trip before Emily's disease had progressed too far and come while she was still able to travel. The disease has already taken it's toll and she was recently hospitalized, and she is quite sick. But this is her dream, to come here.
Looking for a dream vacation on a budget
Emily and her parents had planned to visit Iceland on July 6-9, but were looking for affordable tours to take during their stay. At the top of Emily's list was to go horseback riding and to visit an ice cave.
On Saturday Margrét posted a question to a Facebook group used by people who work in the Icelandic tourism industry, explaining Emily's condition and her dream, asking if people could come up with suggestions for affordable activities or ideas for how to put together her dream vacation for three, but on a budget.
Tour operators, hotels, guesthouses and restaurants chip in
Margrét had not been expecting the avalanche of offers for free tours, but the post quickly became the top item in the group, and within hours Margrét had been swamped with dozens of messages and ideas from businesses in the tourism industry offering their help.
Emily and her mother were offered horse riding trips, super jeep tours, whale watching and cave exploration trips. They have also been offered to stay for free at hotels and guesthouses, while restaurants around Iceland have offered them to dine out for free. Offers were still coming in late Sunday evening, long after Emily and her mother had received more offers than they could take up during a vacation three or fourt times longer than their quick stop over in July.
Moved by the geneorosity
Emily and her mother told Stöð 2 that they were ecstatic and deeply moved by the generosity. Emily's mother said that she had not always been able to do all the things for Emily that she would have liked to:
From a mom, it means so much, to have this opportunity to help her live out a dream that she has, so thank you so much to everyone who has stepped foreward and offered so many generous opportunities, and we just can't wait to be there.
