Arnaud knows all about marsupials. He knows that marsupial babies stay hidden in their mother’s pouch for up to six months before venturing into the outside world and that marsupials never drink (astonishing, isn’t it?). Arnaud knows all this because he is the proud adoptive father (and also a grandfather) of Peach, a koala that lives at Australia’s Featherdale Wildlife Park.

How did this 11-year-old Montrealer come to have such a unique family tree? Very simply he had his wish granted by the Children’s Wish Foundation. But first, we should start at the beginning of his remarkable story.
Arnaud is the eldest son of Katia and François, and big brother to Loïc. Arnaud and Loïc both have severe hemophilia A. The hemophilia community first met Arnaud as the five-year-old star of the French version of CHS’ video Hemophilia: What School Personnel Should Know. It was at about the same time that Katia, Arnaud’s mother, submitted his name to the Children’s Wish Foundation. Arnaud was already in love with marsupials and especially with koalas. When he was little, he was in the Koala group in daycare, and it seems he has felt a kinship with them ever since.
Arnaud’s wish was to travel to Australia to adopt a real live koala. He was immediately accepted into the foundation’s program. At that time though, travelling to the other side of the world was just too daunting for Arnaud, so the project was put on the back burner for a few years. Meanwhile, Isabelle Clément, a talented young photographer, approached the Children’s Wish Foundation with an interesting proposal. She wanted to accompany a child and his or her family, step by step, as a wish became a reality, to document the experience through photography. The images would then become the backdrop of a book authored by a talented writer. The Children’s Wish Foundation team immediately thought of Arnaud. And thus began an incredible adventure and a dear friendship!
Now we jump ahead to March 2011. Our band of travellers landed in Australia for a week-long trip during which they never seemed to stop. They discovered the world down-under including surfing, Sydney, the Taronga Zoo, the Sydney Aquarium, the Blue Mountains, the Royal Botanical Garden and its giant bats. Arnaud and his family saw it all, as did the observant and keen eye of the photographer accompanying them.

“Going to Australia with Arnaud’s family was one of the best moments of my career. I thank them from the bottom of my heart for their generosity and their faith in me.”
- ISABELLE CLÉMENT, photographer

had earned this moment, he deserved to have this wish granted.


“The most beautiful part of the adventure was to have discovered the poetry of Arnaud’s world.”
- ARLETTE COUSTURE, author
Speaking of dreams, Arnaud hopes to someday become a comic strip artist. He could not believe his luck to meet in person, real live comic strip artist, Samuel Cantin, who was also the illustrator for Arnaud au pays des koalas. If Arnaud had any doubts about drawing stories as a profession, they soon disappeared. The adventure allowed him not only to live an incredible journey but also planted a seed for the future. Quite an accomplishment!
When Arnaud was born and hemophilia became part of his family’s daily routine, his parents didn’t feel like they had been dealt a winning hand from the start. Now, 11 years later, they don’t see things in the same light. Living with hemophilia for Arnaud, his parents and his brother means being part of a larger extended family. A family that helps each other, that lives through the joy and sadness together, helps each other through the hardships and knows how to see the positive side in all situations. A family that pursues their dream and knows they will succeed in achieving their goal. Arnaud’s dream is the dream of everyone within the bleeding disorder community.
Arnaud really lived through an adventure. A trip to the other side of the world to see koalas, a most memorable Montreal Book Fair, an inspiring meeting with a comic strip artist and new friendships with an author and a photographer who are both talented and sensitive. At the beginning of the project, Arnaud was anxious. Fame just wasn’t for him; he preferred anonymity, to go unnoticed. Now, he understands that when you are true to yourself, things go well and you succeed. Being on the front page of the local newspaper, signing dozens and dozens of books, being on the cover of a book sold in bookstores are just a few ways of showing that though there is an illness present, it is not an obstacle to leading a normal life, through absolutely extraordinary events.
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Arnaud au pays des koalas
64 pages | $14.95
($1 per copy goes to the
Children’s Wish Foundation)
ISBN 2-978-923792-21-7
- March 2013