DREAMS came true for brave youngster Paul Harrison who has battled a life-threatening form of cancer.

Paul, from Charmouth, has endured intensive chemotherapy treatment as he fought Stage Four Abdominal Burkitt’s Lymphoma (sporadic), a type of cancer that occurs only in children and young people.

The 12-year-old was diagnosed in October 2009, just five weeks into starting at Colyton Grammar School.

Paul, a former pupil of Charmouth Primary School, is now in complete remission and has been back at school for a year, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime wish that really boosted his recovery.

During his illness, a family friend referred Paul to Starlight Children’s Foundation, a wish-granting charity for children with serious and terminal illnesses.

The gifted youngster, who at the age of five joined Mensa, the society for people whose IQ is in the top two per cent of the population, asked to visit an animation studio, having already written a script for his first animated film.

Paul’s mum Caroline said: “Although Paul had little time at his new school to make friends before he was diagnosed with cancer, he has been such a little star through treatment and he deserves something really special. We are very, very proud of him.”

The charity organised for him to spend two days at the Arts University College in Bournemouth with animation teacher Paul Hilton, learning about the different types of animation.

Then Paul, his sister Lauren, 14, and parents Caroline and Philip spent a day at Framestore in London, one of the largest visual effects and computer animation studios in Europe.

Mrs Harrison said: “The great thing about the Starlight wishes is that you can have a wish that money can’t buy, something quite different. That is something which Paul took into account when choosing his wish.

“Paul was completely in awe of everything, he really enjoyed it.”

The family was given a special tour of the studio and as a memento of his wish, the Framestore team arranged for an animated poster of Paul’s film script to be created.

Mrs Harrison said: “All the characters in there were designed by one of their artists based on Paul’s script. He had put no pictures in his script, but the characters were created based on Paul’s descriptive words.

“It was a really nice surprise for him because it brought all his characters to life.”

The poster now has pride of place in Paul’s own ‘animation studio’ at home.

After his wish, Paul, who swims competitively for Chard and District Swimming Club, said: “Thank you for organising the wish-of-a-lifetime (in my eyes) – I can’t thank you enough. “The day at Framestore was fantastic and I couldn’t have wished for any more. I really enjoyed finding out about all the fascinating parts of an animations studio and going into the private cinema. That was really cool. But the thing I enjoyed most was the experience.”