A young girl with a rare genetic disorder which will eventually see her being fed through her heart has achieved a lifetime dream of competing in Crufts.

Ellissia East-Hickman, 12, suffers from a rare and incurable neuropathic gut disorder which means she has spent most of her life in hospital.

The condition makes it difficult for her to eat and forces her to need a stoma bag as the nerves throughout her stomach, bowel and bladder don't work properly.

The Marden schoolgirl was also diagnosed with autism at a young age and found dogs a calming presence to be around, which prompted her to train the family pets and realise her talent.

Ellissia, a pupil at Grange Park School in Wrotham, caught the eye of many experts around the world and had the opportunity to show case her talents at the famous dog show this weekend.

She said: “I am really excited and it is definitely a dream come true, it is a big achievement getting them to Crufts, it just started as a hobby and now it is something a lot better.

“I find the dogs calming to be around, and it is interesting reading different dogs and getting to know them. You can’t just say ‘a dog is a dog’ they all have different personalities and mindsets.”

Ellissia scored a prestigious Crufts first place with shih tzu Pebbles and her dogs all placed in their categories, in a stunning achievement which has left her and her family 'over the moon'.

Pebbles won her Utility category of minor puppy bitch, and the youngster's french bulldogs Voodoo and Nala placed fourth and very highly commended in their individual Utility categories on Saturday.

In the pastoral category on Thursday Sable the German shepherd received a very highly commended honour, and both Cymbar the French bulldog and Sable received third and fourth respectively in the Good Citizen Dog category.

Ellissia's proud mum Cheryl East, 44, said: "It's still not really sinking in, we are over the moon and so proud of Ellissia, we can't believe it.

"Every single dog entered placed at Crufts, it's really overwhelming. In some of the categories there were best of breed group winners, but Ellissia's dogs placed higher."

During lockdown, Ellisia was not able to attend school, so used the time to train her French bulldog Cymbar to be a therapy dog to help with her communication and anxiety.

She then progressed to training the entire six-strong show team, as a way to demonstrate her versatility across breeds.

At her last dog show in January, she gained her first Best Female Certificate with one of her French Bulldogs, competing against 141 other dogs.

Taking part in the Utility category on Saturday alongside two-year-old Cymbar will be her other French bulldogs, Nala, also two, nine-month-old Voodoo and Pebbles and nine-month-old Shih Tzu.

Ellissa has already competed in the Pastoral category with mother and daughter German shepherds Sheera, aged four and Sable, who is 11-months-old.

Despite her difficulties, she now has several top show teams lined up and an offer to appear at a modelling event.

Ellissia’s mum Cheryl East added: “It has been really overwhelming and wonderful and we are so proud of Ellissia.

“As she is autistic is only able to focus on things she connects with and understands so with her love and understanding of dogs she concentrated on handling skills to perfection.

“She entered all 6 dogs, qualifying all of them for Crufts 2022, despite not even competing a year.

“Just to be able to get into the show ring and keep calm is a big achievement, but she is getting all this praise on her own merit, nobody knows what she is going through behind the scenes, they just seen how well she handles the dogs.

“This young lady has competed against some of the best exhibitors including many Crufts winners and mainly adult competitors, she has had to conquer her anxiety and cope with her disabilities.

“With the help of her show dogs understanding her needs and her understanding of theirs to become great examples of how this child connects with canines and to enter such a competitive international sport and hit this show world like a storm.

“We come back to the room and cry every night because we are so proud, we are in pure shock about how far it has progressed in just a year.”

Ellissia is set to undergo another operation this year and will eventually need an organ transplant and an operation to allow her to feed through her heart.

But it doesn’t mean the dogs will get any time off as she plans to keep up with them over FaceTime during her trips to Great Ormond Street.