A SEVEN-year-old from Thurrock cared for by Essex’s only children’s hospice has got the Golden Buzzer on Britain’s Got Talent.
Dottie Rees from Grays was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in September 2020.
She was just four when diagnosed, and her treatment, which was nearly two years long, has consisted of over 60 sessions of chemotherapy in London and her local hospital.
Dottie continues to live with the effects of her brain tumour, having regular MRI scans and tests for her hearing and vision.
Because of this, Dottie faces challenges that most children her age don’t have to contend with. After such grueling and intensive treatment, Dottie was struggling emotionally – and this is where Little Havens could help the family.
Little Havens, Essex’s only children’s hospice, provides specialist care and support for babies, children and young people like Dottie who are living with complex or incurable conditions.
The hospice provides the kind of care that treats everyone as a person, not a patient, offering the support and care they need to live every day to the full. For Dottie, this means providing emotional support through weekly counselling sessions at school with one of our trained children’s counsellors.
Louise Paterson-Rees, Dottie’s mum, explains, “Dottie speaks so highly of Kat, her Little Havens Counsellor. Kat talks to me, too, and always makes me feel that Dottie is being well looked after.
“The sessions are the highlight of Dottie’s school week. As well as being a chance to talk about everything she’s gone through, Kat involves arts and crafts too, so Dottie comes home with lots of lovely things she’s created.”
“For me as a mum, having someone Dottie can talk to from Little Havens is reassuring as I know she isn’t alone. Kat is someone Dottie can talk to about everything going on in our lives, whether that’s her worries or just chat about her daily events.”
Dottie, her mum Louise, and Grandma Denise are part of ‘Ravi’s Dream Team’ – a choir brought together because of their shared experience of brain tumours.
The choir entered Britain’s Got Talent earlier this year.
