VIDEO: Brooke's tribute to her cousin Harry
Explaining the moving story behind Brooke’s winning performance, Michele continued: “My sister Penny had little boy Harry Griffiths-Dyer, who was born in prematurely in June. He had been doing really well but then we had the news that he had spinal muscular atrophy and only had a couple of weeks to live. He died in November and his funeral was in December. The song that played in the church was I’ll See You Again by Westlife, and that’s the song Brooke chose to dance to.”
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a genetic disease that causes muscle weakness and progressive loss of movement. Michele says that although Penny’s grief is still very raw she is keen to promote awareness of SMA and was moved by Brooke’s dance dedication.
Full story in this week’s Herald. To watch video of Brooke’s dance in Dublin at the European Lyrical Dance Championships, follow the video link above.