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Wellington student Stacey Christie got to achieve a dream and meet her idol Katy Perry at the pop singers recent Wellington concert.

Stacey has a neuromuscular condition called Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy which is a group of disorders affecting voluntary muscles, mainly those around the hips and shoulders — the pelvic and shoulder girdles, also known as the limb girdles. This condition can be very limiting and both Stacey and her mother have been diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy.

Stacey has an amazing spirit, “Living with muscular dystrophy is of course difficult and sometimes I wish I could run to catch up to my friends, or go upstairs like everyone else. However my disability has helped shape who I am as a person. People often think that having a disability is only a negative thing, but perhaps they’re looking at the situation from the wrong angle”.

As a member of the Muscular Dystrophy Association of New Zealand, the not for profit organisation which aims to support people and their families affected by these conditions, the MDA organised for Stacey to meet her pop idol with the help of radio station ZM’s Polly Gillespie.

“Stacey is a member of our national council and is also a huge Katy Perry fan. Stacey had tickets to both of the concerts and had gone to such a great effort to design and make her outfit inspired by the singers music video, that we wanted to see if we could do something special for her” says MDA’s Marketing Manager Deborah Baker. Deborah continues to say “Stacey is a great advocate for living life to its fullest despite her physical limitations – she is truly an inspiring young lady and we are so glad we could, with the help of the radio station ZM, make her dream come true”.

“Meeting Katy Perry one of the best nights of my life, if not the best!” says Stacey. Katy was lovely in person and she said my outfit was amazing. We got to speak to her for several minutes and after meeting her in ‘Candyfornia’ we got to stay in the candy themed room, eat candy and take photos on a Katy Perry themed photo booth.

We spent about half an hour talking to this nice man about the tour and New Zealand among other things. Next thing we knew, he organised for us to have seats in a private VIP box, close to the stage. Later we discovered he was Katy Perry’s manager. We also had our own security, and Katy’s manager came to check that we were fine throughout the night. It was absolutely unreal!
At the end of the night, as the curtain was coming down, Katy saw us and yelled out ‘Love you, thank you! Thank you for dressing up for me! Bye Candy Cane Girls’, as we had candy canes.

It meant so much to me to meet Katy, as she is my idol and I will never forget the night. The whole experience was truly perfect, words can’t really explain.”

Tags: Music, Youth