'We achieved it': Nine-year-old's final wish to meet superstar Harry Styles comes true
A child’s final wish to meet one of the biggest popstars in the world has come true
The dying wish of a nine-year-old to meet Harry Styles has come true after a charity’s heartfelt plea sparked support from hundreds across the country.
Last week, Sophie’s Legacy pushed out an urgent plea on social media to make Poppy Fletcher’s dream of meeting the One Direction star a reality, after her declining health means attending his summer tour is no longer an option.
The youngster, from Gosport, who is also known as Big Girl, has been unwell since birth after she was born prematurely at 24 weeks, and was diagnosed with short bowel syndrome.
At the end of last year, Poppy was diagnosed with multi-organ failure and bone marrow failure, which is preventing her from receiving a transplant.
In an update, Charlotte Fairall, founder of Sophie’s Legacy, said: “I just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who has liked, shared or commented on our Harry Styles video over the past few days. It’s unbelievable that we have managed to achieve this.
“Today (May 1) Poppy met Harry - it was virtually. She’s unwell and he’s obviously not in the UK but we achieved it. She spoke for 18 minutes - so thank you. Somehow our small little charity helped make a nine-year-old girl’s dream come true.”
Harry said: “That’s going to be the special show - Before I go on, I’ll think this is a big show because Big Girl’s here with me.”
He also said he will perform Poppy’s favourite track, Watermelon Sugar, in honour of the terminally ill girl.
Lisa previously said: “She is very poorly. We are just trying to manage her to make sure she’s out of as much pain as possible and just enjoy what time we have left with her. She has always been ill but it’s got to the point where there is nothing they can do for her.
“She has touched the hearts of so many people. Everyone that meets her falls in love with her. She has been all over the place with hospitals and she has just got so many people that love her. There is not another Big Girl - the things she’s been through and she smiles through it. There is no one like her.”
In 2021, Poppy underwent a liver transplant after total parenteral nutrition (TPN) treatment damaged the one she was born with, but last September she went into organ failure and had to be admitted to intensive care after contracting sepsis.
Since then she has been on dialysis four days a week at Southampton General Hospital, and has to endure six-hour rounds of treatment to not only clean her blood but to replace the fluid in her body.
The 47-year-old added: “It’s hard going on her. It’s exhausting, tiring and it’s really sad that I can’t promise her that she is going to get better. We nearly lost her before her liver transplant but there was hope - Now there’s no transplant and no getting better and that’s heartbreaking.
“We do have the option to stop treatment if we want to but at the moment we are going to keep doing it so we can snatch as many weeks that we have left and make as many memories with her as we can.”