Melksham family take on muddy challenge for Eli

A FAMILY from Melksham has set about a  fundraising campaign to raise £10,000 for their six year-old nephew Eli who is on life support in New Zealand.

Becki de Voogd’s nephew Eli Honeysett lives in New Zealand with his family – his dad Matthew Honeysett lived in Melksham for many years before emigrating ten years ago.

In April this year Eli was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis, a very rare neurological virus and has been  on life support in Intensive Care at the Starship Hospital in Auckland ever since.

Becki said, “Matthew and his wife Tracey have made sure one of them is by his bedside every day whilst the other one is back home, 400 miles away  looking after their other sons Isaac, Eli’s twin brother and Jesse who is 2 years-old.

“We are now on a mission to get Eli home which is so so, so important. Matt and Tracey are such a strong unit, but they are  constantly separated and can only be together when one of them flies up to Auckland for a weekend with the other two boys. If they can get Eli home and be a family of five again then we really feel Eli and his brothers will have such a better quality of life. They simply can not carry on with their current situation.

“Our main fundraising event is the Winter Monster Race on Saturday 12th November at Charlton Park Estate in Wiltshire. It is a 5k (or 10k if you want to race the circuit twice) muddy obstacle race. The aim of the event is to raise money, and if we can have fun at the same time this is a bonus!

“We are all going to wear yellow at Eli’s request – he is great at communicating by blinking or moving his lips.

“Statistically Eli is unlikely to make a full recovery, however we believe nothing is impossible and have read about  examples around the world where people have been able to walk again. This is what we tell Eli as he needs to keep hoping.

“Eli will continue to need everything he currently uses in the Intensive Care unit if he goes home. Trained nurses, a life support machine, hoists, standing frames – their entire house will need to be adapted.

“We also want to donate some of the £10,000 to  Ronald McDonald and The Starship Foundation. Ronald McDonald have been a huge help to Matt and Tracey. They provide them with a house and food whilst they stay in Auckland which has taken many day-to-day stresses away from them and The Starship Foundation is a social-profit organisation which raises funds for Starship Children’s Health which provides healthcare for children and young people.

“We’d like to say thank you to Zoomi Print in Melksham who have been incredibly helpful printing off flyers and sponsorship forms, and they have agreed to do us a huge banner for Eli too.

“We kindly ask for your support by sponsoring us to compete in this race. Each donation means so much and we are so grateful. Eli means the world to us, and if you have ever met him or his twin brother Isaac you would understand in an instant why.”

To donate visit www.gofundme.com/helpandhopeforeli