A Fife teenager’s dream has come true after coming face to face with her favourite television entertainer.
Isra Oudeh, known as Issy, met her hero Justin Fletcher Mr Tumble to his millions of fans after the star was awarded an honorary degree by Dundee University.
Her big sister Mia, 25, approached her former university to see if 16-year-old Issy, who has profound communication difficulties, could meet Justin for “two seconds”.
He has featured on a host of popular shows and has worked hard to ensure they are accessible to all using sign language on his Bafta-winning show Something Special.
Kind-hearted Dundee University bosses then invited Issy, Mia and their whole family, who live in Dunfermline, to the graduates’ lunch followed by a meeting with the newly-honoured Dr Tumble.
Mia told the Courier: “He was amazing, so lovely. He is exactly the same as what you see on the programme, which isn’t always the case with actors.
“He was incredible. He was really engaging, and was signing with her and singing with her.”
An Instagram post by Mia thanking Justin for ensuring her sister enjoyed “an absolutely magical time” has been liked and shared by tens of thousands of people on social media, with many saying it was the most uplifting thing they had seen for years.Mia told The Courier: “She’s 16, I’m her big sister and I’ve never seen her react in that way at all. She was really excited and happy to see him.”
Mia, who graduated from Dundee University in 2012, said she “chanced it” and emailed everyone she could think of to try to set up the meeting.
She said: “They got back to me and said they would love to have me and my family at the graduates’ lunch, and afterwards we’d get to speak to Justin as well, which we didn’t expect.
“I found out two months ago and my mum decided to tell the school about two weeks ago, so they could tell her and prepare her for it because she can be quite shy.”
She added: “Isra spends every morning asking to watch his programmes.It’s the one that really engages her because obviously it’s targeted for someone like her.
“After lunch Justin came over to say goodbye to her and she was just so happy and gave him a hug.She won’t stop talking about it now!”