Dawn Garrigus from Stagesboro, GA suffers from Mitochondiral Disorder. Her Make-a-Wish was to meet actor Sir Patrick Stewart aka Captain Luc Picard from Star Trek. Her wish came true at DragonCon and photographer James Barker was there to capture this amazing photo.
Via James Barker Photography Facebook page: This is my favorite Dragoncon 2014 photo. The Make-a-Wish foundation made it possible for 10 year old Dawn, who has a life threatening illness, to meet Patrick Stewart backstage. He was about to speak to a packed room of 2000 people, but they sat down and he really focused on her; they talked for about 15 minutes. As things are winding down and she and her family are getting ready to go, Dawn unexpectedly throws him this huge hug, and you can see the happiness in both their faces. Bravo Sir Patrick! #classact #patrickstewart#dragoncon
Barker also talked to ETonline.com about the moment,
“She looked so incredibly happy! I hung back and shot from a distance so as to give them some space while they were talking. As things were winding down, I had a sense that there might be more and suddenly she throws her arms around him, in this wonderful genuine ‘thank you.’ I felt my eyes welling up and was lucky to still be able to compose and shoot a few frames.”