A courageous Church Aston child has been chosen to greet HRH Princess Anne when she visits Newport skate park on Tuesday week.
Eleven-year-old Amelia Parker, who suffers with Crohn’s disease, will present The Princess Royal with a posy of flowers before she officially opens the £200,000 facility at Norbroom Park, on December 1, at 12.30pm.
And Amelia’s dad Mark Parker said he hoped the news would give his daughter a timely boost.
He said: “Amelia’s over the moon. She was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in December last year and has had three bouts in hospital since for a couple of weeks at a time.
“But despite the unpleasant effects of the treatment, Amelia has been determined to carry on life as normal.
“She’s a very outgoing girl and very tough. She’s been smiling all the way through.
“Amelia loves football, dinghy sailing and used to do cross-country. She even plays netball while wearing her feeding tube.
“She’s still poorly and has just had another attack. She’s being treated with medication but hopefully this will give her a boost.”
Sk8 and Ride secretary, Marc Simpson, who took part in the selection process, said “There were 11 names put forward as proposals and it was really difficult to decide who would be best.”
“We were looking for someone who would have the confidence to speak to the Princess and we believe Amelia is that person.
“For an 11-year-old to suffer like that is a terrible thing, so hopefully this can give her a boost.”
Meanwhile, the number of children granted time off school to greet Princess Anne has been limited to around 300 in case bad weather strikes.
