WATCH: 'I want a unicorn for Xmas. Merry Xmas Echo readers': A 2-year-old's festive message to melt your heart
All she wants for Christmas is a unicorn. And a yoga session!
Two-year-old Washington youngster Cora Lily Taggart has told Sunderland Echo readers all about her festive plans in a video when she also wished you all ‘A Merry Christmas’.
The little girl first became a headline hitter in 2023 when she became a film star, raising awareness of childhood illnesses.
Doing yoga on Christmas Day
She featured in the comedy production called A Rare Find which is all about new-born screening and rare diseases.
She was just nine months old in the production but now she is almost three and told us: “I want a unicorn for Christmas.’
Her dad, John Lee Taggart, then asked her what she was planning to do on Christmas Day and she replied: “Yoga!”
Finally, Cora sends a message to you all saying ‘Merry Christmas Echo readers’.
Cora had a heart defect as a baby
The film that she starred in was called A Rare Find and was produced by a collaboration of Washington-based charity, Niemann-Pick UK (NPUK), The Newborn Screening Collaborative, and local production company Media Borne.
By complete coincidence, the charity that John works for looks in to rare diseases.
He said he and his partner Chantelle Taggart were attending Cora's scans towards the end of the pregnancy when a problem emerged.
'The person doing the scans was saying 'oh dear' and there seemed to be an irregularity."
‘A deep understanding of the emotional toll parents go through’
He said: "We had some potential serious issues (heart defect) picked up in early screening late in pregnancy, and then a few tests once Cora was here.
"All seemed to correct itself but we are still monitoring the situation.
"Either way it was a very worrying time, and gave us a deep understanding of the emotional toll parents go through with this sort of thing." John is Head of Communications for the Washington based small rare disease charity, Niemann-Pick UK (NPUK).
Niemann-Pick diseases can affect both children and adults:
They are caused by a lack of the enzyme acid sphingomyelinase and they lead to a build-up of toxic materials in the body.
To find out more about the diseases, visit https://www.npuk.org/