Shropshire youngster enjoys magical circus experience
A boy with a unique chromosomal condition saw his dream come true when he saw his first ever circus – after rubbing shoulders with the stars before the curtain went up.
Mackenzie Fox-Byrne, 11, and his family were given free tickets for the performance at Oakengates Theatre under a scheme which gives disabled children the chance to see a live circus.
Mackenzie, from Market Drayton, is thought to be the only person in the world with a condition which has baffled doctors. He suffers from triplication on the X chromosome, which means he has learning difficulties, low muscle tone, behavioural problems and does not speak.
He was invited to see Circus Starr's performance at the theatre last Wednesday. The family received their tickets through Circus Starr's partnership with Cannock-based Newlife Foundation, the UK's largest charity funder of specialist equipment for children with disabilities and terminal illness.
The charity has previously provided the family with a specialist sleeping environment which has helped him progress from interrupted nights to sleeping through until morning.
Mackenzie's mother, Sharon, said the family really enjoyed the show.
"We had a great night," she said. " Mackenzie clapped along, particularly during Emile the clown's act and the fabulous hula hoop act."
As a baby, doctors carried out tests on Mackenzie after he struggled to digest food and became sick after feeding. He also struggled to pull himself up or do things healthy babies his age would do. The results were inconclusive, but it soon emerged Mackenzie's condition was the result of a gene mutation doctors had not seen before.
Newlife Foundation volunteers joined the circus audience with their collecting cans to help with its vital work with families in Shropshire. At the moment Newlife is working with 12 other families in Shropshire to provide equipment worth £4,638.
The production, entitled Pinocchio Joins The Circus, blended the slapstick humour of the circus with the thrills and spills of live circus action.
The show was presented by ringmaster and juggler Gordon Marquez, and tells the story of Pinocchio, a boy carved from wood, who realises his ambition to become a circus performer.
