WATCH: Magherafelt girl shares a heartwarming moment with WWE hero

ABOVE: Magherafelt girl Holly with WWE star Cody Rhodes: Credit Instagram @theamericannightmarecody

12 year old Holly Henry from Magherafelt recently met her hero, wrestler Cody Rhodes, with thanks to Make a Wish Foundation. 

Young Holly and the popular wrestler shared a heartwarming moment backstage and in front of an audience in the SSE Arena Belfast. 

Holly, who suffers from severe medical conditions, received VIP treatment at the arena before a private backstage get-together with the esteemed champion. 

The young girl got a chance to ask questions and exchange gifts with the superstar. 

Holly’s dad Paul spoke to the County Derry Post about Holly’s journey and the uplifting experience. 

“Holly has had complex medical conditions since she was born,” he explained. 

“She has spent a lot of time in hospital. The worst was a block of six months. She has had countless surgeries and spent two weeks over in Great Ormond Street. There is no diagnosis or prognosis for Holly, at the minute they are just monitoring her. From spending the six months in hospital she has been doing a lot better. She has been in and out of hospital a few times but nowhere near as much or for as long as a duration. She does suffer a lot. She will miss out doing activities and there are moments throughout her life that she has missed out on. Getting to meet her idols meant the world to her.” 

Paul explained how surprisingly Holly developed a love of wrestling off her own bat.

“I do like wrestling but Holly’s love for it didn’t come from me,” he continued. 

“I had the WWE subscription for the TV before it went on to Netflix. I just stumbled upon it but then I would be coming home from work and Holly would be saying ‘Look daddy’ and telling me bits about it. She organically fell in love with it herself and pulled me in to watch it with her. Over the past three or four years she has been very much into it.” Reflecting on the actual experience of meeting the stars, Paul said: “The whole thing was very surreal. We told Holly on Thursday that she would get to meet Cody on Saturday so she had the excitement there for a few days. He was so welcoming to Holly, he said it was lovely to meet her and shook her hand. He warmly welcomed me and my wife Jenna too. 

“Holly then had a list of questions to ask him and he was more than happy to answer them. She asked him ‘who was his favourite wrestler growing up’, ‘if he could wrestle anybody who would it be’, ‘what was it like winning the title at Wrestle Mania’ and ‘where is his favourite place to wrestle’ (ps he actually said Belfast is one of them). Holly was so confident asking him all the questions, I was thinking if that was me I would be stumbling on my words. I think the interaction put him at ease as well, he was really into it. They chatted a bit and exchanged some gifts. He asked her if there was anyone else she wanted to meet. Holly mentioned the women’s champion Chelsea Green and then ended up meeting her too. They bonded over their matching stars and stripes nails. They gave the belts to Holly and she stood with them on her shoulders, it made for a great photo. Cody got pictures with us all and then we thought that was it until we got into the arena. 

ABOVE: Holly with WWE star Cody Rhodes and her parents Paul and Jenna

“The show was really good and Cody came on at the end and surprised us by getting the crowd to say hello to his friend Holly. He invited her up into the ring with him. We had no idea this was going to happen. Holly took the chance to ask Cody if he could follow me on Instagram, he told Holly he would follow so he stuck to his word and now follows me on Instagram. My wife Jenna and I are still shocked that it all happened and are still talking about it. Holly took it all in her stride, she says her and Cody are best mates now. 

ABOVE: Holly meeting WWE stars Cody Rhodes and Chelsea Green

“I can’t stress enough how nice of a guy Cody is and how good he was with Holly. He was a real gentleman. So personable towards Holly and interested in what she had to say. He gave her hugs, made her feel welcome and was really genuine. Holly was so made up and happy with the whole experience. She definitely felt blessed for it all to happen to her,” Paul said. 

Paul concluded by extending his thanks to the Make a Wish Foundation for the experience saying: “It is with thanks to Make a Wish that this all happened. We didn’t think it would for a while but they pulled it off. The team was great and made the experience amazing for Holly.”