A TEENAGER made sure her illness did not stop her realising a dream of singing with her idol.

Caitlin Ronan from Wellington Heath, near Ledbury, was diagnosed several years ago with an aggressive form of progressive peripheral neuropathy.

It causes severe weakness to the 13-year-old’s peripheral nervous system and has left her confined to a bed for the past nine months.

But she made sure she was in her wheelchair when the Starlight Children’s Foundation arranged for her to sing with the English tenor, Alfie Boe.

Caitlin, who reached the finals of Herefordshire’s Got Talent in 2012, first saw Alfie play Jean Valjean in Les Misérables in 2011, and since then it has been her dream to meet him.

Caitlin fulfilled that ambition when she went with her parents, Louise and Sean, to see him following his Storyteller show at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena earlier this month.

They later sang Tell Me It's Not True, from the musical Blood Brothers.

Caitlin’s mother Louise said: “Caitlin had an absolutely fantastic evening – it was a huge boost for her. Alfie just came across as a lovely person and we all felt immediately relaxed with him.

“Starlight’s organisation was perfect and meant that we could just concentrate on looking after Caitlin all weekend without any other worries.”

For more information on Starlight, who grant wishes for children with serious and terminal illnesses, visit www.starlight.org.uk.