A toddler battling serious health problems came face to face with her hero yesterday and was dancing with joy.
Two-year-old Sophia McGrady, who has undergone major heart surgery, could scarcely believe her eyes as the TV cartoon hero Peppa Pig came to life at the Eagles Meadow shopping centre in Wrexham.
Hundreds of excited children queued to get a glimpse of the five-year-old pig who likes jumping in puddles – and of course, her little brother George.
It was a dream come true for Sophia – thanks to Eagles Meadow manager Kevin Critchley and his deputy, Stuart Bellis, who arranged the special private meeting.
She kissed Peppa, held her hand and danced so much she lost her wellingtons.
Her grandparents Robert and Anthea Box, from Ellesmere, took Sophia to meet Peppa, since Sophia’s mum, their daughter Victoria McGrady, who lives in Chester, could not get away from her work as a dentist.
Robert and Anthea Box moved from Yorkshire to be closer to daughter Victoria and look after Sophia every Wednesday and alternate Thursdays.
“We had heard about Peppa Pig and went searching to find out where it was on the TV channels. We saw one and recorded it for her and she was hooked.
Now we have Peppa Pig DVDs and one of her first words was ‘dinosaw’ (what Peppa’s brother George calls his dinosaur).
“She’s had a very rough time from the moment she was born. She was born tiny, just under five pounds at full term.
“She was extremely tiny and they did not know why. She was discharged from hospital and it went from bad to worse. Everyone said it was going to be OK, the health visitor said when she feeds she will be fine but a couple of months later it was discovered she had holes in her heart and could not feed properly.
“She was turning blue and had to be tube fed for months. They had to wait so that she could gain weight to have open heart surgery which she did at only six months in Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool.
“But she’s made a brilliant recovery,” says Anthea. But when she was in Alder Hey they found she also had hypothyroidism, which causes the body functions to slow down, and she needs to have thyroxine daily.
It was also discovered that Sophia had “moderate to severe” hearing loss.
“We have enormous trouble with her hearing aids, she keeps taking them out and hiding them!”
“She absolutely adores Peppa Pig and we will be taking her to see one of the live shows at New Brighton. She can say ‘pig oink’ and ‘George’, in fact much of her first vocabulary has been from Peppa Pig.”
For one young fan the sight of his hero was almost too much. Despite queuing for more than an hour to be the first to greet Peppa, Timothy Roberts, two, burst into tears at the critical moment.
“He just loves watching Peppa on TV, he watches every day and has all the DVDs,” said his mum Sandra, from Cefn Mawr, whose 10-year-old son Kurt was more laid back about encountering the superstar pig.
Eagles Meadow Manager Kevin Critchley said: “As a grandfather who regularly watches Peppa Pig on television, I was thrilled that we were able to host another visit by her and George.
“We wanted to put on a half term treat for the children and we were delighted that so many of them came along today.
“There were lots and lots of smiling faces and we were pleased that we were able to organise a special meeting for little Sophia.
“She has been very unwell and it was seeing the sheer joy on her face when she met Peppa was a wonderful experience.”
Last month it was revealed that Peppa Pig has now overtaken Thomas the Tank Engine as the highest selling pre-school toy, achieving record merchandising sales of £200 million in 2010.
For those not familiar with children’s day-time TV, Peppa Pig is a five-year-old who lives with Mummy and Daddy Pig and little brother George in a house on top of a little green hill.
Her best friend is Suzy Sheep and her favourite pastime is jumping up and down in muddy puddles and laughing and making loud snorting noises.
She acts out situations which young viewers can relate to, like going on car journeys, going to playgroup and getting ready for bed.
More than two million Peppa Pig books and DVDs have been sold to date in the UK.
Aimed at children aged two and above, the programme won a children’s Bafta in 2005 for best pre-school animation.
The series won the award for the Best Pre-School Licensed Property at The Licensing Awards in 2009.
Peppa Pig episodes feature situations that are familiar to small children, including dressing up, playing games, going to playgroup, car journeys and getting ready for bed.
The stories sometimes involve a few tears but always end in snorts of laughter.
