Fundraisers from Ashford and Folkestone rally round Theo Foss, six, of Dover, who has cerebral palsy
09:40, 18 July 2019
updated: 09:54, 18 July 2019
Well-wishers from across east Kent have rallied to raise raise £30,000 for a six-year-old with cerbral palsy.
Theo Foss, of Dover, will have life-changing surgery on the NHS but the money is needed for his aftercare and rehabilitation.
Fundraisers from as far as Ashford and Folkestone have risen to the challenge.
A JustGiving page has been set up for him and by last Friday J showed total £6,064.86 was raised.
Contributors included Malissa Jones, of Whitfield, who last Sunday raised £900 for Theo after completing the Bewl Water 2km challenge.
She swam in the cold waters of the reservoir on the Tunbridge Wells and East Sussex boundary.
Her young daughter Esie attends the Whitfield and Aspen School and is in the same year as Theo.
Mrs Jones said: "I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone to help. I only started swimming in March, and in a pool.
"Even if this is only one physiotherapy session for Theo it will have been worth it."
On June 15 a young girl called Evie Aaitchison ,of Folkestone, completed a 13-mile walk around Hythe, and raised more than £700.
One June 6 Ashford-based gym Double J Boxing ran a charity event named The Ultimate Fight that raised £1,595.
Theo was born two months premature.
He has been accepted to have life changing selective Dorsal Rhizotomy Surgery (SDR) at Great Ormond Street hospital in London at the end of the year.
This will enable him to live a pain-free life.
Theo says: “With hard work I will be able to walk on my own just like my friends.
" Something I have always wanted to do is sit on the carpet with my legs crossed at school. Lots of things will be so much easier for me."
The fundraising campaign is spearheaded by Theo's mum and dad, Kate and Dan Foss, and siblings Lexi and Jack.
Mrs Foss said; “Theo is the most determined boy I know.
"For him to be free and able to walk along with his friends and sit on the carpet with his legs crossed at school really will change his whole world.”
Theo will spend every school holiday in Colchester at Kids Physio Works where he will benefit from four days of three-hour intensive physiotherapy sessions.
He will also receive an in-house physio two to three times a week during term-time, as well as a session of hydrotherapy.
If you want to help Theo contribute to the fundraising page justgiving.com/campaign/freedomfortheo
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