Six-year-old leads fundraising effort for hospital treating sister

A local six-year-old boy has teamed up with his friends and cousins to raise over £13,000 for a ward at Bristol Children’s Hospital where his sister is receiving treatment for a brain tumour.

Teddy Brimble, a pupil at Bowerhill Primary School, ran in the Junior and Mini Great Bristol Run on 9th May with 12 friends and cousins, raising £13,146 for the Starlight Ward.

His sister, Lucia, aged 3, is being treated on the ward for a rare brain tumour, which she was diagnosed with in November last year.

Teddy is a regular at Melksham junior parkrun and along with his team of ‘Teddy’s Starlight Striders’, including five children from Bowerhill Primary School, they covered two distances. The older children aged nine to 15 years old ran 2.5km and the children aged between three and eight ran 1.5km, accompanied by adults.

Teddy’s mum Rebecca said she was overwhelmed by the support from the community behind the challenge.

Overwhelming

“The amount of money raised is overwhelming,” said Rebecca. “A few days before the race we raised £12,000, but 24 hours in the lead-up to the race everyone re-shared the links and we ended up making over £13,000.

“The Starlight Ward has been absolutely fantastic. We can’t say enough how well looked after we have been. We wanted to get Teddy involved because it is a really big thing that his sister is in hospital.

“It has also been a bit difficult for him to get to the parkrun regularly because we are based in Bristol whilst Lucia is in hospital, so we asked if he wanted to do a race and he was very keen to do it.”

Rebecca said it was ‘incredible’ to see the children’s faces when they crossed the finish line. “They either had faces of complete joy where they were enjoying it so much, or they have this look of determination of wanting to get to the finish line,” she said. “The children were so fast that the parents couldn’t keep up with them. They were all showing their medals off with pride, they were really proud of their achievements.”

Lucia is currently undergoing intensive chemotherapy and treatment after three brain surgeries. The longest surgery took place three days before Christmas, where she spent 16 hours in theatre.

The family has been in the Bristol Children’s Hospital since the start of the journey. Teddy stays with family in Melksham and with his parents in Bristol at the weekends.

The funds raised will help the hospital pay for a new photobiomodulation (PBM) machine, which helps reduce the risk and severity of painful mouth sores caused by chemotherapy treatment. The hospital has only one of these machines, shared across three wards.

Lucia has benefitted from the use of this equipment and it has prevented her suffering with mouth sores.

Rebecca said, “Just before New Year’s Eve, we had this shattering news that her tumour was really rare and difficult to treat in children of her age. It is every parent’s worst nightmare. The ward has just been incredible. It is like we have been scooped up and held by them. We can’t thank them enough.”

In total, the family have raised £20,000 through various fundraising efforts including a half marathon and a race night.

To contribute to the fundraising campaign, visit www.justgiving.com/team/teddysstarlightstriders