Brave little Milton Keynes girl in end stage of heart failure to get her Strictly Come Dancing wish come true

An eight-year-old girl in the end stages of heart failure is about to get her last wish come true and meet the Strictly Come Dancing team.

Little Bea Pykett was born with Neo-natal Marfan Syndrome, a rare connective tissue disorder that causes heart defects, spinal problems and disproportionately long limbs.

Most people with the condition will have a life expectancy of 70 plus, but Bea's case is one of the most severe doctors have seen and unfortunately the outlook is not positive for her.

This month experts at the Royal Brompton hospital tragically told her parents Jenny and Alex that there was nothing more they could do to help their daughter’s weak and failing heart.

"What followed was a brutal conversation,” said Jenny. “Bea is in end stage of heart failure and the combination of a severely weak heart that is also beating erratically is a ticking time bomb.

“We have always known that a day will come when Bea’s heart quite simply can’t keep going but in the meantime we have dedicated everything to making sure we give Bea the best life we can.”

The little girl’s greatest passion is Strictly Come Dancing, which she watches avidly at her Sherington home, dancing in front of the tv with the aid of a walking frame, and then spending hours discussing every minute detail with her grandma and her cousins Molly and Isobel, who are all fellow fans.

"Saturday and Sunday nights from September until Christmas are the main events of the year with ‘Strictly Sleepovers’ at Grandma and Grandpas and regular facetime calls to analyse the talent. Every Monday morning at school requires a full debrief with various staff members,” said Jenny.

"Two weeks ago, Bea said to me: “Mummy, I would really like to be in Strictly when I’m older. I think I’d do a dance to something from Tangled. The thing is I need to become a famous actress or something first...although...I am sort of a mini celebrity already, like in the hospital and at school because everyone knows me.’

Her biggest dream, she said, is to meet the dancers and dance with Vito Coppola, said Jenny.

"We all have hopes dreams for our children and their futures and, whilst it is not lost on me that some of those futures are taken away from people without warning, maybe we have the fortune to have the warning and so we would be letting Bea down if we didn’t do everything we could to help her achieve her dreams while we can.”

Jenny published a poignant plea on social media on Monday, asking if anyone could arrange a meeting with the Strictly dancers.

"It doesn’t sit well with me to ask for favours as I know that everyone’s own child is the most special to them, illness or not, but I think it’s fair to say that we never want to have regrets, so I had to ask.”

Within 24 hours she was contacted by Neil Jones and also the agent of Karen Hauer, inviting Bea and five guests to the show’s dress rehearsal at Elstree Studios this Saturday.

"Bea is over the moon!” said Jenny. “She’s planning to take me, her little brother James, her cousins and, of course, grandma.”

The Citizen has today contacted the BBC press office urging them to pull out all the stops for Bea – and to try to arrange her dance with Vito –bizarrely to Thunder by Imagine Dragons

Meanwhile, Bea has no idea of her prognosis and continues to live her life, loving every moment of being at home and at school and whizzing around in her electric wheelchair.

Jenny said: “As things stand at the moment we don’t have time to waste being sad or dwelling on what’s to come and she must never believe her life is limited.

Bea underwent heart surgery five years ago but the muscles of her heart are now becoming too weak to function. Doctors say she is too frail for surgery and a heart transplant would not be viable.

“We have always strived to be ‘normal’, if there is such a thing, and in doing so we have probably managed to push aside what is going to be inevitable,” said Jenny.

"So much so that I think we have believed she can defy the odds. If you don’t have hope, you have nothing. Perhaps it is that which made hearing this news so hard to take. Or perhaps it is the fact that she still seems so well (all things considered) or maybe it is just the fact that we know our exceptional little girl, who is the bedrock of our family and a source of such joy and love to so many people that know her, is going to be taken away from us.

"There can’t be anything worse in the world.

"We don’t know how much time we have (I didn’t want to know) and so we just want Bea to carry on enjoying life as much as she can. For most people this may mean exotic holidays and meals at fancy restaurants, trips here there and everywhere but for Bea it’s more simple than that… she wants to Bea meet the Strictly crew and see where the magic happens.

"Were it not for her life limiting condition, there is no doubt in my mind that one day in the future you would be seeing a celebrity by the name of Beatrice Pykett appearing on Strictly Come Dancing.”