Rose for a day

FOURTEEN-year-old Nicole Norton, the Barefield girl whose dream came true with the help of Share a Dream last week, “had a ball” on her girlie day out according to her mother Ann.
As detailed in last week’s Clare Champion, Nicole, who has cerebral palsy and is visually impaired, got to spend last Friday being pampered and preened. Nicole’s dream day culminated with her taking the stage as an honorary Rose of Clare.
“It was absolutely fantastic,” said Ann. “From the very first moment when the limo arrived to pick her up, it was amazing. She had a garda escort to Limerick and they gave her a garda hat to wear. Everybody was just so good to her and she got some amazing clothes. And when we went to the photography studio, the photographs were fantastic. It was great for her to be able to switch off from it all for the day. And the Roses were brilliant. When Orla McDonagh was announced as the winner, she was looking right at Nicole and after the singing, she went straight down to her to give her a hug. It was just such a lovely thing to do because it really was her night and to share it with Nicole was lovely.”