A DREAM came true for a seriously-ill teenager.

Liam Gawthorpe, 16, is a huge fan of Paul O’Grady – from his comedy alter-ego Lily Savage through to his current Paul O'Grady Live show.

So when the children’s charity Make-A-Wish Foundation asked Liam, of Liversedge, what his top wish would be, he of course said to meet the star.

The dream became a reality for Liam when he met O’Grady and watched the rehearsal for Paul O’Grady Live with his mum Sharon, dad Neil and his brothers Sean and Ethan.

Liam was born with a congenital heart defect.

He was operated on at four months and diagnosed with Eisenmenger’s Complex.

Then, at the age of nine, he was then diagnosed at Great Ormond Street Hospital with Pulmonary Hypertension.

Just last year Liam was back in hospital due to a brain abscess.

Liam’s eight year old brother, Ethan, is also familiar with hospital visits – he has a heart murmur and suffers from selective mutism.

Middle brother Sean, 11, is a rock to both his brothers; helping out with their illnesses and always making sure they are happy.

Father Neil Gawthorpe said: “Liam is one of Paul’s avid fans, he was absolutely speechless when he met him; he was smiling from ear to ear.

“As a family we don’t get a lot of time together and we can’t fly because of Liam’s condition so the wish was fantastic as it pulled us all together.

“It also gave me and Sharon a break; we felt proper pampered.”

During their time at the ITV studios, Liam and his family also bumped into DJ Chris Moyles, Peter Dickson (the famed voice of X Factor) and Nicholas Jonas of the Jonas Brothers.

Liam and his brother were also given goody bags which included a T-shirt, a signed photo of Paul O’Grady and a nodding Olga toy.

Mr Gawthorpe added: “We couldn’t have wished for anything more – the look on his face would put a lump in your throat.”

Paul O’Grady said: “It was an honour to meet Liam, he is such a courageous young man. The work that Make-A-Wish does really makes such a difference to such deserving young people.”

There are currently 20,000 children and young people in the UK fighting a life-threatening illness and this year alone 1,200 children will turn to Make-A-Wish to have their wish granted. The charity needs to raise £5.5m in 2011 to achieve this.