Girl's dream comes true after meeting Capaldi

An 11-year-old girl, who has had four brain surgery operations, said her dream came true after meeting her idol, Lewis Capaldi.

Evie-Mae held up a sign at the gig in Exeter, at the end of June, and the singer invited her up on stage for a photograph.

Her mum, Amy, said she bought Evie-Mae tickets for the gig at Powderham Castle for Christmas.

Evie-Mae said: "It was my first concert and I wasn't sure if he was going to have a photo with me, but when he did notice the sign, I started to get excited."

Her sign, including the singer's song titles, said: "Lewis, when I was little I had to 'survive' having four brain surgeries. It left me with 'bruises'. You're my first concert as I think music is 'pointless' without you so 'before you go' please have a photo with me as I'm not ready for you to 'forget me' and 'I wish you the best'."

Evie-Mae said: "In my opinion, I am Lewis Capaldi's biggest fan.

"I love his music and he's my idol."

She described it as a "dream come true" meeting him.

Amy said she bought Evie-Mae the tickets as a Christmas present because they enjoyed artists who had a "back story" such as Lewis Capaldi and Alex Warren who were "big advocates for mental health".

Amy, who lives in Bristol but grew up in Devon, said: "We love how, even back, we were watching him on the TV at Glastonbury and he was open and honest and said he needed to take a break.

"Evie-Mae loves stuff like that because with autism, sometimes it's hard to explain your own emotions.

"When you've got someone you idolise, like Lewis or Alex Warren, talking about their feelings are good role models for children and their music backs that up as well."

Amy said her daughter's experience would be hard to beat.

"I'm glad we got her the ticket for Christmas, but I don't know how we're going to trump that."

Amy said her daughter previously had a condition called hydrocephalus, a build up of fluid in the brain, meaning she needed to have surgery when she was eight months old.

In the coming years she had three other operations linked to the condition.

Amy said she had "actually outgrown hydrocephalus" which was a surprise "because it was supposed to be lifelong".

Evie-Mae said her favourite song by the artist was 'survive' because it was "relatable" after her own experience.

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