Claim: An email says that 9-year old Craig Shergold of Carshalton, Great Britain is dying of Cancer.  As a dying wish, he wants to get into the Guinness Book of World Records by collecting the most greeting cards of anybody in history.  The email asks that the cards be sent to an address of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  
Verdict: REFUTES

Retrieved passages:
title: Craig Shergold
text: Craig Shergold Craig Shergold (born 24 June 1979) is a British former cancer patient who received an estimated 350 million greeting cards, earning him a place in the "Guinness Book of World Records". Variations of the plea for greeting cards on his behalf in 1989 are still being distributed through the Internet, making the plea one of the most persistent urban legends. In 1988 Craig Shergold began complaining of ear aches. After antibiotics were unsuccessful in treating his symptoms, in 1989 doctors diagnosed him, at the age of nine, with what they considered terminal brain cancer. Craig's friends and relatives

title: Craig Shergold
text: began a chain letter campaign requesting individuals to send greeting cards to him with the goal of beating the "Guinness Book of World Records" for 1,000,065 greeting cards received. Craig received greeting cards from all over the world including celebrities like Madonna and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Children's Wish Foundation became involved in the campaign in the early stages and quickly became overwhelmed by the volume of cards being received, though they later disavowed any connection with the chain letter campaigns. The campaign was successful and Shergold's name was added to the "1991 Guinness Book of World Records" as having received

title: Craig Shergold
text: 16,250,692 get-well cards by May 1990, and again in the "1992 Guinness Book of World Records" as having received 33 million cards by May 1991. Craig's cancer worsened. His British doctors estimated he might only have a few weeks of life remaining and suggested the family bring him home for the last few weeks. Virginia billionaire John Kluge, founder of Metromedia, learned of Shergold's illness and arranged for him to travel to the United States for a new type of operation. He was operated on in 1991 at the University of Virginia Medical Center, where a physician was able to

title: Craig Shergold
text: recycling center. In 1993, Shergold's mother, Marion, wrote a book about her son's story entitled, "Craig Shergold : A Mother's Story". On 10 November 2001, PAX TV aired a made-for-TV movie, "The Miracle of the Cards". The movie starred Thomas Sangster as Shergold and also featured Kirk Cameron as a cynical reporter. Guinness World Records has retired the record and requested that individuals no longer respond to any requests for greeting cards. Craig Shergold Craig Shergold (born 24 June 1979) is a British former cancer patient who received an estimated 350 million greeting cards, earning him a place in the

title: The Miracle of the Cards
text: 1988 is diagnosed with a brain tumor. Although the prognosis is negative, Craig's mother Marion (Catherine Oxenberg) becomes convinced that there is a cure for it, and that the means of finding that cure is to break the Guinness World Record for receiving greeting cards. Broadcasting a plea to everyone in the world, Marion is successful in bringing 350 million cards to Craig's door. One of those cards provides the key for Craig's ultimate salvation. A cynical reporter, Josh (Kirk Cameron), finds himself witnessing a miracle he can hardly believe. The Miracle of the Cards The Miracle of the Cards

title: Craig Shergold
text: remove virtually all of the tumor except for a benign fragment. Craig grew into a healthy adult. Even after his recovery, the chain letter continued to circulate and millions of greeting cards continued to flow to Shergold's home. Craig estimated that by 1998, he had received a total of 250 million cards. Variants of the chain mail changed Craig's name to "Craig Shelford", "Craig Stafford", "Craig Shefford", or even "Greg Sherwood". Another variant involves requests for business cards. The Royal Mail gave their home its own postal code because of the volume of mail they received. To avoid the deluge

title: Craig Shergold
text: of mail, the family halted mail delivery and later moved. Since 1989, Craig has received approximately 350 million greeting cards. As an adult, Craig does not make any public appearances other than to express his new wish–for the mail to stop. , he continues to receive cards, sent to his old address. The Make-A-Wish Foundation also states on their Web site that they do not engage in chain letters or telemarketing activities and also denies any involvement in fulfilling Craig's original wish, stating that it was done by another wish-granting organization. Any mail that is received is forwarded to a

title: Sick baby hoax
text: the problem efficiently (relying on user takedown requests and reports only), several scam- and hoax-combatting websites have worked together to raise the awareness of social media providers regarding this issue. It was observed that these may often be a mischievous modification of the true story of one Craig Shergold, a child with brain cancer, whose efforts were to enter the Guinness Book of Records for receiving most get-well greeting cards. Sick baby hoax A sick baby hoax is a confidence trick where a person claims, often on a website, that they have an ill child and are struggling to pay

title: Make-A-Wish Foundation UK
text: called Ben – who wished to be a chef for the day after he was diagnosed with leukaemia when he was 5 years old. A wish is a special experience for a child or young person fighting a life-threatening condition. Wishes can range from being a princess or being a business owner for the day or meeting a hero, to going on a once-in-a-lifetime family holiday. To receive a wish, a child must be between the ages of 3 and 17 years, living in the UK, and fighting a life-threatening condition. Make-A-Wish UK contacts each child’s medical consultant to establish

title: Stephen Sutton
text: to get a diagnosis as doctors did not believe that colorectal cancer could occur in a teenager. Sutton made a "bucket list" of things to do in his final months, successfully achieving many of them including becoming a Guinness World Records holder. He began fundraising for the Teenage Cancer Trust, receiving support from celebrities and politicians. In 2013, he met filmmaker Grigorij Richters, who recorded him for a documentary. Sutton died in hospital on 14 May 2014, at age 19. A memorial service to him at Lichfield Cathedral was attended by over 10,000 mourners. After his death, Sutton was posthumously

title: Linda Robson
text: of lung cancer when he was 57. Her mother also died of cancer in August 2012. In October 2013, Robson voiced an interactive video campaign for the British Lung Foundation aiming to ban smoking in cars with children on board in the United Kingdom, in memory of her father. On an episode of "This Morning", Robson matched the Guinness World Record for filling as many pancakes as possible in the space of one minute. She managed to fill six pancakes. Linda Robson Linda Robson (born 13 March 1958) is an English actress and presenter, best known for playing Tracey Stubbs

title: Make-A-Wish Foundation
text: around the world through 38 other affiliate offices. In the spring of 1980, 7-year-old Christopher James Greicius (August 13, 1972 – May 3, 1980) was being treated for leukemia. He aspired to be a police officer. U.S. Customs Officer Tommy Austin befriended Chris and worked with officers at the Arizona Department of Public Safety to plan an experience to lift Greicius' spirits. Chris spent the day as a police officer, rode in a police helicopter, received a custom-tailored police uniform, and was sworn in as the first honorary Public Safety patrolman in state history. Greicius died soon after, but his

title: Stephen Sutton
text: 4 May, Sutton helped break the Guinness World Record for 'The most number of people making heart-shaped hand gestures', with 554 people at Chase Terrace Technology College. In September 2014, £2.9 million of the £4.96 million raised was invested in specialist cancer units for young people at seven British hospitals. A further £1.2 million was put towards 50 care scholarships at Coventry University, and £700,000 invested in improving cancer awareness information and helping patients attend the charity's annual weekend conference. On 14 May 2016, the second anniversary of Sutton's death, £5.5 million had been raised. Skydiving and entering the Guinness

title: Wish 143
text: Wish 143 Wish 143 is a 2009 British live action short film. The film's run time is approximately 24 minutes. It was written by Tom Bidwell, directed by Ian Barnes, and produced by Samantha Waite. A terminally ill 15-year-old boy named David is granted a wish by a charitable foundation named the Dreamscape Charity. His request is not for a trip to Walt Disney World or meeting a famous footballer; his wish is to lose his virginity before he dies. David, a 15-year-old living in the Cancer ward of a children’s hospital, is asked by Dreamscape Charity representative for his

title: Dave Farrow
text: basis for family vacations. The family trips to the outdoors helped build his passion for wilderness survival and hiking. At the age of 21, Farrow received his first Guinness World Record for Most Decks of Playing Cards Memorized in a Single Sighting in 1996 where he memorized the order of 52 decks of playing cards, randomly shuffled together, and recalled them correctly under Guinness Record rules (a total of 2704 cards) in a single sighting. This feat was accomplished at the Guinness World Records museum in Niagara Falls, Ontario and is featured in the Guinness Book of World Records, 1997

title: Jason Kanabus
text: sport. In June 2004 he was diagnosed with cancer and despite undergoing operations and chemotherapy the cancer progressed. On his 30th birthday on 15 June 2006 he inherited £2.5 million from a trust fund set up for him by his grandfather. Just three weeks later he was told by doctors at the Royal Marsden hospital that he was terminally ill and that he probably only had a few months to live. The next day he collapsed and died. After his death, his mother wrote in his memory the popular web page, "Am I Going to Die?" to help other families

title: Three Chimneys Farm
text: dating personals from several of the farm's stallions, seeking mares. Personalized letter commercials were made for Barbaro in 2006 and Big Brown in 2008. In April 2008, The Kentucky region of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Three Chimneys Farm teamed up to grant a young boy's wish of meeting Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Smarty Jones. His experience was chronicled June 30 during SportsCenter's "My Wish" series on ESPN. Nine-year-old Patrick Munro of Greenlawn, N.Y. is one of five kids from the Make-A-Wish Foundation whose sports-related wish was highlighted on the SportsCenter series. Patrick, who suffers from hydrocephalus and, as

title: Ashley Kirilow
text: of dying. Skateboard personality Rob Dyer's organization Skate4Cancer financed Kirilow's trip to Disneyworld. According to reports, Kirilow was working as a receptionist at the Sutton Group Results Realty Inc. office in September 2008. She later revealed to her co-workers that she had been diagnosed with cancer. Hence, Michalowski organized a fundraiser in February 2009 at the Burlington bar Club 54. The fundraiser collected $7000. Kirilow is also accused of further raising thousands of dollars for her own benefit through a charity called "Change for the Cure" on Facebook. She had supposedly created the charity to fund cancer research. Kirilow told

title: Phil Kerslake
text: Phil Kerslake Philip Trevor Kerslake (born 24 May 1959) is a Welsh-born New Zealand speaker, author and television presenter who has appeared on the weekday morning series, "Good Morning" and in other New Zealand media. He is also a cancer survivor. Kerslake experienced symptoms of a lymphoma at age 14 or 15, and when he was 19 in 1979, he was given a terminal prognosis. He wrote of his experiences in the 2006 book "Life, Happiness... and Cancer: Survive with action and attitude!" (). The book was published in Australia in 2008 and in Africa and Poland in 2010, each

title: Craig Peyton
text: as well as numerous TV and feature releases. In 2001 Craig Peyton was diagnosed with Stage IV esophageal cancer. He was able to be healed with an experimental procedure involving radiation, chemo, and dietary changes, as well as with the daily help of an energetic healer. As part of his healing process, this healer (Sarah) advised him to spend a few hours a day in and on water. Craig bought a kayak and spent many months floating on the Hudson River. Inspired by the beautiful crystal photographs of water in Dr. Masaru Emoto's book "Messages from Water", Craig began a