Drum woman will meet spandau ballet

The campaign to have Drum woman Martina Moore meet her idols Spandau Ballet has turned to ‘Gold’ this evening as her family have received confirmation that they will meet the band tomorrow afternoon ahead of the concert at the 3 Arena.
Martina ‘Monty’ Moore will be attending the concert tomorrow with her mother Mary and sister Nicola, while dad Willie will act as chauffeur for the day. And while she doesn’t even know yet that she is going to the concert, her family were determined to make her day even more special with a meet and greet with her idols.
Martina’s twin sister Olivia, who has lived in Australia for the past ten years launched a social media campaign in a bid to make her sister’s dream come true and earlier today she succeeded in arranging the meeting.
Explaining her motivation, Olivia said: “I have travelled all over the world but I have never felt alone, because I did not come into this world alone, I came into it followed by my twin sister Martina. My twin sadly was deprived of oxygen when we were born resulting in brain damage and intellectual disabilities.”
Olivia explained that Martina was affectionately nicknamed Monty as when they were children they would always try to cheer her on to do things by saying “C’mon Tina” and with two younger sisters - Nicola and Patricia - saying it, Monty stuck.
Martina’s family were told by doctors that she would never walk or talk and her life expectancy was low.
But Olivia explains: “The doctors obviously didn’t know about the power of a mother’s love and the power ballads of the 80s! Our mother’s love and determination never wavered in trying every way to help Monty communicate. She found Monty responded most to songs on the radio, so a record and video player was bought, both her and mum were the first glued to the tv to watch MT USA and Top of the Pops every Thursday! Then Monty fell in love with five men at once - Spandau Ballet!”
“Monty would play on her devices, that turned more modern over the years, all the hits of Spandau. She learnt to walk by standing on our dad’s toes and swaying back and forth to ‘True’,” added Olivia.
Mary added that Martina has autism and communication can be difficult.
“She talks through music. She’s able to tell you what she wants but if she wants to tell you how she’s feeling it’s through songs,” said Mary.
The family got confirmation on this evening that their campaign worked and Martina will have the chance to meet Spandau Ballet.
Mary said: “We’ll be meeting them tomorrow, we don’t know the time yet.
“Natasha Lacey from St Hilda’s Services saw Olivia’s letter and she contacted Clare’s Wish Foundation, which was set up by a brother of a girl who had Spina and Bifida, and passed away and he phoned us. Martina doesn’t know yet. We’ll keep it a secret until we get there. She’ll be excited, but it will take a minute or two for it to sink in,” said Mary.
“Olivia is over the moon,” she added.