THE parents of a brave lad provided with a life-enhancing wheelchair by the Aaron Lewis Foundation have thanked the charity for its “outstanding” contribution.
Those at the ALF 10s rugby tournament in July would have seen four-year-old Oliver whizzing round the site in his new wheels with a huge smile on his face.
Mum Irvana and dad Nick have written to the ALF and said: “We wanted to say a huge thank you for helping us towards the cost of a specialist wheelchair for our son Oliver.
“Oliver has a rare neuromuscular condition and his wheelchair needs are quite complex. His chair needs to be able to provide as much independence as possible and, unfortunately, the types of chairs able to fulfil his needs are not available via the NHS.
“So, we started fundraising and also approached the Foundation to see if you would be able to help us towards the cost. We were totally blown away when ALF offered to make up the outstanding sum to enable us to purchase the wheelchair in time for Oliver starting school.
“There were lots of tears then and even now thinking back to that phone call.”
Friends and family also supported the cause with bake sales, wine tasting evening, quiz nights and a group undertook the Three Peaks Challenge.
Oliver has since started school in Ashingdon with his siblings and the wheelchair is having a huge impact on him and his family.
Nick and Irvana added: “Oliver’s new wheels mean everything for him. The new-found confidence he has because he can keep up with his friends playing chase and getting up to mischief is such an amazing thing to see.
“We have had lots of family days out over the summer holidays and Oliver has been able to use the functions on his wheelchair rather than be carried by us to be able to join in with his brother and sister.
“We are very grateful for the amazing work that you do and really cannot thank you enough for helping us to provide independence for our cheeky little monkey.”