Clara 'so excited' to sing on Children in Need

A girl with a rare kidney condition says she is excited to be "famous" when she sings on TV in the BBC Children in Need Choir.

Clara, from Cleethorpes, has Denys-Drash syndrome, which caused kidney cancer and led to her needing a transplant.

The eight-year-old will represent East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in the 2025 choir when they sing a special arrangement of the Coldplay song Yellow, on BBC One on Friday.

Mum Elliott said: "Clara is so excited, she said to me that she's going to be famous and she cannot wait to be on TV. She's been practising constantly – I've heard the song so many times now."

Clara will be one of 16 children in the choir, who have all been helped by BBC Children in Need-funded projects.

Elliott said: "She has gone through quite a lot. She's had chemotherapy, radiotherapy, she was on dialysis for a very long time before she got her kidney transplant from her dad."

She said Clara had a very uncertain future, adding: "We don't know what's going to happen in the years to come.

"The chances are she's going to have to go through a lot more treatment. She will probably need another kidney at some point".

Clara said she was "really, really excited to be in the choir" and had been practising the song "lots".

"The thing I'm excited for most is being on TV," she added.

Clara and her family have been supported by St Andrew's Hospice in Grimsby, where a family support practitioner and other costs are funded by BBC Children in Need.

Sam Page, from the hospice, has worked closely with Clara's family and especially her two sisters.

"Without the Children in Need funding, I wouldn't be here, this role wouldn't be possible," she said.

Elliott added: "When a child gets poorly, it doesn't just affect them, it affects everyone.

"St Andrew's Hospice have been absolutely incredible with all the support they've given us as a family.

"They have gone above and beyond what I ever expected they would be able to do."

BBC Children in Need is funding 32 projects in East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, helping 11,147 children and young people, and with a total value of £1,886,457.

This year's appeal show will be on BBC One on Friday from 19:00 GMT and will be presented by celebrities including Paddy McGuinness and Vernon Kay.

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