"He was over the moon when he got it. Dayne has loved fishing since he was 5 years old ... fishing off the jetty.
"He catches snapper, kingfish and kahawai now," she said.
Dayne said it was awesome to receive the gift after all the treatments he had been through.
"It's really exhausting having to go to hospital all the time and not being able to hang out with your friends. I was really shocked, I wasn't expecting it (the boat) to be so big. I just thought it would be another little dinghy."
Make-A-Wish New Zealand was able to grant just 200 wishes per year. In order to grant the wish of every eligible child in New Zealand, Make-A-Wish must expand its wish programme to meet the sheer volume of about 400 children who were diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition each year.
Make-A-Wish New Zealand was working towards granting every eligible child's wish and had teamed up with real estate firm Bayleys as it prepared to grant its 2000th wish later this month.
Bayleys Foundation general manager Sue Stanaway said the young people Make-A-Wish helped had to grow up too fast.
"They are thrown into a scary and adult world and often spend months enduring countless medical treatments and operations.
"The beauty of Make-A-Wish New Zealand is that they give these children hope and excitement to mask the effects of their illness. But most importantly they give them the opportunity to be children again."
Make-A-Wish New Zealand
•Make-A-Wish New Zealand aims to make the impossible possible, by granting the wishes of children suffering from life-threatening conditions. Two volunteer "Wish Granters" meet each young applicant to learn their ultimate wish, and how Make-A-Wish can make it a reality.
•The child must have a life-threatening medical condition to qualify and be aged between 3 and 17 at the time of application. Money raised from sponsorship and donations goes towards paying for the wishes which are limited only by the child's imagination.
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