A teenager who appeared on Britain’s Got Talent final revealed Simon Cowell is footing the bill for her life-changing surgery.
Julia Carlile said Simon had approached her backstage during the final and told her he would be paying the £175,000 bill for her operation, which she will have in the US.
The 15-year-old suffers from scoliosis – a curvature of the spine – which has left her with severe pain and discomfort, writes the Liverpool Echo.
Julia and her family will fly to New York on Sunday before travelling to New Jersey where she will have her operation.
The operation, called vertebral body tethering, means the teen will have screws are fixed along a cord inside her back. Her recovery for this particular procedure should take around six weeks, compared to six months.
Julia said:
Simon came and spoke to us back stage. Just walking off stage and he said he was paying for it and I couldn’t believe it.
Annie came up to me and said Simon wants to speak to us.
He said we did a really good performance.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo at the Formby Festival where her dance troupe MerseyGirls were performing, Julia said it was the group’s final performance before the operation.
The group – which includes Julia’s sister Alice, as well as Annie Winstanley, Becky Jordan and Poppy Gerrard – started singing together because they thought they wouldn’t be able to dance together again.
After the performance, Julia said:
It was quite sad. I’m not going to see any of the girls now before my surgery. We were all crying and saying bye to each other, hugging and crying. we are really, really close friends.
I’m beyond happy and it means we can carry on dancing together for the rest of our lives.
He didn’t have to do it and he has changed my life. There are no word to thank him for how grateful we are. It’s just unbelievable.
It does not feel real.
What an incredible gesture, good luck Julia!
