We did it!
Ann Johansson and Tomasz Gehrke raised £496 from 19 supporters.
Closed 25/02/2017
Weʼve raised £496 to help fund potentially life saving cough assist machine for young Leon affected by spinal muscle atrophy 2 (SMA 2).
- Location
- Gdynia, Poland
- Category
- Disability support
- Time left
- Funded on Saturday, 25th February 2017
What is crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding is a new type of fundraising where you can raise funds for your own personal cause, even if you're not a registered charity.
The page owner is responsible for the distribution of funds raised.
Story
Hey! The little fellow above with a huge smile is Leon Hoepfner.
Leon lives in a small place called Skarszewo in Poland. He's just like any other kid; he loves to play, chase a cat and explore the big world around him.
He's just like any other 18 months old kido, except for the fact that he is affected by the rare and nasty condition called spinal muscle atrophy 2 (SMA 2).
It means that his muscles are not strong enough to support him stand up and run. He needs assistance for that.
In fact he needs a lot of attention and assistance with many other things too.
Luckily he has got wonderful parents and relatives, taking really good care. During those hours I spent with them, 3 weeks ago, he was constantly looked after by someone.
But time is not the only factor. Unfortunately finances have their importance too.
Currently Leon's parents Żaneta and Tomasz are striving to obtain funds for the costly equipment known as cough assist machine or "coughalator".
It's required for a periodic lung rehabilitation and also as a potential life-saver in case of ordinary sickness.
My partner Ann Johansson and I decided to start a crowdfunding activity in order to help them.
Leon's FB (in Polish):
https://web.facebook.com/leonekhoepfner/?ref=br_rs
About SMA:
https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/…/spinal-muscular-atrophy…
(picture by Leon's mom Żanetta Hoepfner)
Updates
5
7 months agoAnn Johansson and Tomasz Gehrke
7 months agoHey Good Souls !! Enormous thanks on behalf of Leon's family. I have sent the amount of 466GBP to Żanetta (30GBP was retained by JustGiving for their service). The machine is currently at Leon's home for a monthly trial. However, the family does not have enough funds to purchase the cough-assist machine yet. The amount raised by us represents about 10% of the equipment price. We wish Leon's family all the best with raising remaining amount. If anyone, would like to help more, please contact: https://www.facebook.com/zanetta.hoepfner Tom&Ann
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- 7 months ago
Ann Johansson and Tomasz Gehrke
7 months agoFebruary, 23 2017. Hey all the good souls out there! Enormous thanks for your help so far! We have one more day to go. We would be stoked to raise as much as possible to help little Leon's parents: Zanetta and Tomasz to afford that breathing-assistance for their son. I just learnt that long awaited Leon's special consultation in France was cancelled. We can still make little guy's life better though! Common! ps. Since our meeting in China we have cycled over 4000km in Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. Next goal: Singapour. Tom&Ann
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- 9 months ago
Ann Johansson and Tomasz Gehrke
9 months agoDecember 23, 2016. Thank you so much for helping us to make a difference! Yesterday I got the message from Leon's mom - Zanetta ; Little Leon is doing fine and was unusually patient during his everyday's face massage :-) ps. We are in Pu'er, Yunnan, China - 280km from the border with Laos. A few days of cycling. Not sure we can access the internet tomorrow, therefore: Merry Christmas to all !!!
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- 9 months ago
Ann Johansson and Tomasz Gehrke
9 months agoDecember 13, 2016. (Saint Lucy's celebration day in Sweden). Tomasz and Ann are in Dali, China, after having cycled together almost 400km through the mountains of Chinese province of Yunnan. Today we managed to get in touch with Zanetta, Leons mom. We got some really good news from her: With the latest fundraising operation organised for Leon's cause in Swiecie, Poland, the family got over a half of the money required for the purchase of cough assisting machine, great! Therefore we decided to reduce our goal to 1500 gbp. Thank you all !!!
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Ann Johansson and Tomasz Gehrke started crowdfunding
Leave a message of support
Supporters
19
Stefan Kuettel
Feb 25, 2017
Keep up cycling and also the good work! All the best! Stefan
£40.00
FRANK MARANINCHI
Feb 24, 2017
THANKS FOR ALL TOM , GOOD VALUES, AND FRIENDSHIPCAN T FORGET YOU
£10.00
TJ Neault
Feb 23, 2017
Keep on keepin on guys!
£10.00
Z Z
Feb 18, 2017
pozdrowienia z Tczewa i Gdanska
£50.00
Bobby Fries
Jan 6, 2017
Tomas & Ann, Your keen determination in cycling all over as you have is very inspiring for me. Your caring about this little fellow is very heartening as well. I pray that he & U 2 are blessed greatly
£30.00
Birgit & Rolf Burström
Dec 23, 2016
Till Leon från Birgit & Rolf, God Jul!
£35.00
Vivvi Wennerberg
Dec 22, 2016
Till Leon, God Jul!
£26.00
About the fundraiser
Ann Johansson and Tomasz Gehrke
Gdynia, Poland
Ann Johansson, 31 from Sweden and Tomasz Gehrke, 44 from Poland. Ann is currently cycling from her home in Ljusne, Sweden to New Zealand. Tomasz is on his way to join Ann in China. You can find more at mairawa.com and our FB profiles.
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