World Wrestling Entertainment — WWE — icon and actor John Cena set a world record for the most wishes granted through the Make-a-Wish Foundation, the Guinness World Record announced.
The nonprofit organization helps grant wishes for children who have been diagnosed with critical illnesses. Cena, the most requested celebrity for the foundation's program, has fulfilled 650 of those wishes from children wanting to meet him. No one else has granted more than 200 wishes in the 42-year existence of Make-a-Wish, Guinness reported.
Cena joined the foundation in 2002, after signing with the World Wrestling Federation (now known as the WWE). A decade later he granted Make-a-Wish's 1,000th wish to a fan named Cardon. Cena was honored for fulfilling 500 requests through the foundation in 2015.
"There is no more humbling experience than a child who could ask for anything in the world asking to meet me," Cena said in a statement to The Baltimore Sun. "I have faced some of the toughest superstars in WWE history and I've never encountered more bravery or toughness than I see in each wish kid that I meet."
Speaking previously with Reuters, Cena declared his support for the foundation, saying, "If you ever need me for this ever, I don't care what I'm doing, I will drop what I'm doing and be involved because I think that's the coolest thing.”
In a statement about his commitment to Make-a-Wish, Cena told The Hollywood Reporter that he wanted the children "to have an experience that will stay with them to forever."
"I don't ever want the children or their families to be treated in a way where they feel as if they're up against anything at all," he said.
During an appearance on "The Drew Barrymore Show" in January, Cena talked about how flattered he is by children who make it their wish to see him.
"Make-a-Wish's list is enormous, and they literally will do anything you want. 'I want to kick it with John Cena and see him wrestle.' That is the coolest thing I have ever heard in my life," Cena said, according to People.
"It means a lot of things. It means one, something I am passionate about affects people. It means two, I can be a vehicle to help make a wish come true," he continued. "And it means three, when we engage, when the wish actually happens, it is something that someone wants, and we are the finish line."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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