After the singer struggled to finish his Glastonbury set, a young boy with Tourette's syndrome, age 11, wrote to Lewis Capaldi to offer his support.
The Scottish star, who also has Tourette's, performed at Glastonbury the day before James Craven received his diagnosis on Friday.
"I like that you have Tourette's and you keep going with it," wrote the young person from Teesside. ".
After Capaldi struggled to finish his set on Saturday, the audience sang along with him.
James wrote: "Every time I see you struggling but continuing to go, it brings a smile to my face," and "you are a role model to everyone with Tourette's and it shows them that they can be successful." on a piece of A4 paper.
James said, in a statement to BBC Radio Tees, "I know how he [Capaldi] feels, especially when he's ticking a lot. I admire him greatly. ".
His mother Kate expressed that she was "proud" of her son's deeds.
"He sat down at the kitchen table and began to write it after he thought about what had happened to us over the weekend, including James's diagnosis on Friday and seeing Lewis perform.
James has been a longtime fan of Lewis Capaldi. It was lovely to see him become motivated and, like a lot of the nation, feel sympathy for his plight.
"It's been really lovely," she continued, referring to the online response. I believe what affected people was the letter's innocence and rawness.
"I had a tear in my eye when I read it," James' father Joe said. It was wonderful that he was considering someone else.
According to him, the singer's family had received "lots of comments" from Tourette's sufferers on social media who "recognize and understand" their struggles.
It's a collective voice, and the fact that people feel comfortable discussing it is very positive. ".
- The neurological condition known as Tourette's syndrome (TS) makes people make tics, which are uncontrollable sounds and movements.
- The condition typically first manifests in childhood, but after a few years, symptoms usually get better and occasionally even go away completely.
- Although anything can cause tics, stress and anxiety are frequent triggers.
- The majority of TS sufferers don't need medication because their tics or behaviors don't have a big impact on their lives. There are, however, options that can help control tics if they are a problem.
- In the UK, TS affects more than 300,000 children and adults.
Sources: Tourette's Action and the NHS.
The Scottish singer Capaldi admitted on Tuesday that he was "still learning to adjust to the impact" of receiving a Tourette's diagnosis himself a year earlier.
He has canceled his tour after his Glastonbury performance in order to address his physical and mental health; he called this decision "the most difficult of my life."
