CREDITON teenager Beth was diagnosed with Selective Mutism at the age of four, which meant she was unable to speak, walk, eat or play with other children in lots of different situations, but at home, she was a lively, bubbly little girl.

The family needed a lot of help to help her overcome the condition, including invaluable information from SMIRA, the Selective Mutism Information and Research Association.

Beth, who has lived all her life in Crediton, started dancing at the age of five to allow her to move freely in a situation where there was no pressure to talk.

By the end of her primary education, she was leading a relatively normal life, but then her little sister was diagnosed with leukaemia, which lead to her needing a bone marrow transplant.

Beth turned out to be a perfect match, and selflessly donated her bone marrow in an operation that terrified her, but she knew she had to help her sister to save her life.

Beth became anaemic as a result of the donation, and it took several months for her to feel well again.

Throughout all the difficulties of her childhood, and supporting her sister through her cancer treatment, she kept up her dancing, and her love of dancing grew more and more.

She has now been dancing for 14 years, and has achieved gaining a place at the prestigious Bird College in London, one of the top three dance and musical theatre colleges in the UK, on their foundation degree course, starting in September this year. An amazing achievement for a child who couldn’t speak!

Unfortunately, there is no funding for this course, so the family are desperately trying to raise the £8,250 needed to pay for the course.

Along the way, they would love to increase awareness of Selective Mutism and SMIRA, a valuable resource when they were trying to find out ways of helping Beth.

It is a relatively unknown condition and often misdiagnosed as autism, therefore preventing the correct help being given.

Any money raised over their target, will be donated to SMIRA to help them continue their important work.

Beth attends the Sixth form at Queen Elizabeth’s School in Crediton, where she is studying for A Levels in dance, drama and law. She also attends the Charles Academy of Dance in Crediton.

For more information or to make a donation visit the website: https://www.gofundme.com/lets-talk-dance .