Your friends are fundraising. Don't miss out, opt in.

We did it!

Gemma Pearce raised £2,587.7 from 107 supporters

or

Start your own crowdfunding page

Closed 05/10/2020

0%
£2,587
raised of £4,700 target by 107 supporters

    Iʼve raised £2,587 to help raise money for a new specialised wheelchair for Toby

    Andover, Hampshire
    Funded on Monday, 5th October 2020

    Don't have time to donate right now?

    Story

    Toby was born on 11th may 2006 and seemed to be a “normal” healthy 8lb1 baby boy. It was very soon after he was born that I noticed he wasn’t doing things he should, he had no head control, he wasn’t using his hands to grip and he would have lots of jerky movements which would involve his eyes rolling up.

    Having taken him to see 7 different doctors, all of whom did not believe there was anything wrong, I finally persuaded one doctor to refer him to a paediatric doctor in Winchester. 2 weeks before his appointment he became very ill and was admitted to the hospital where the doctors there saw the jerky movements I’d been telling the doctors about, it was here that the word seizure was first mentioned. Following extensive tests we were told that our beautiful boy had been having seizures, they told us he would be developmentally delayed but that hopefully by the time he was 1 year old he would have caught up and his seizures would have stopped. Our world was shattered but we held on to those words with the hope he would be ok. Sadly for Toby that year came and went and it was soon discovered that he was on the other end of the spectrum and instead of getting better he got worse. His seizures intensified and his development never progressed. He was diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a rare and complex form of epilepsy that is highly drug resistant. He would have up to 100 seizures every day, and was put on various medication concoctions, none of which helped him. One of the drugs he was on for 4 years took everything from him, he was such a happy baby, always smiling but this drug stopped all that, he couldn’t smile or laugh, he lost all head control, couldn’t hold eye contact and slept for up to 20 hours a day. Finally at 11 years old we were able to wean him off that medication and slowly he began to smile and laugh again, he still had the seizures but his quality of life was much better, we knew then that we had to be very careful with what medication we put him on and also changed our perspective, whilst it was important to try to control the seizures it couldn’t be at the expense of his quality of life. On top of all this he was also diagnosed with severe obstructive apnea syndrome meaning he stops breathing up to 10 times per hour during sleep and need to be monitored constantly.

    2 years ago toby had to have major spinal surgery to correct a curve and rotation with metal rods.

    Toby still now can have up to 100 seizures every day and at 14 years old he is mentally and physically around 6 months, but despite all he has been through he is such a happy boy, he lights up every room with his smile, his laugh is infectious and our lives are all the more amazing for having him in it.

    Toby has always needed custom made equipment to meet his extensive needs but now due to his size he is needing an adult size chair.

    His current wheelchair is now too small and doesn’t meet his needs anymore.

    Whilst his spinal surgery was a success it has left him unable to sit comfortably for any more than an hour, he needs to be able to stretch out to alleviate pain and find comfort. He becomes very upset crying and struggles with the pain. Toby loves to go out side for walks, he loves to spend time with his family and loves to Socialise with everyone. For the last year because of his pain we can’t go more than 5 minutes away from our home incase he has pain and has to get out of his chair, we have had to leave mid way through a family meal because he has started crying, we can’t go out for family days out because he can’t cope with being in his chair. It has impacted his life so much that we have avoided going out.

    The new wheelchair is a custom made power chair which allows Toby to lay completely flat when needed, meaning when we go out and he experiences pain he can lay out straight away for as long as he needs, it would make so much of a difference not only for Toby but to his whole family, it would mean he and his younger brother and sister can have family days out again, it would mean Toby and I can go on our walks in the fresh air again, it would mean we can go for a family meal out without the worry that he won’t cope and need to leave. It would mean we can get back to our form of normality without restriction.

    Sadly because of the enormity of the needs he now has and it needing to be an adult chair due to his size it comes with a huge price tag of £14,544! It is the biggest target we have ever had and has been very overwhelming. It is a struggle to raise money for wheelchairs as most charity’s won’t help with them, they assume wheelchair services should be providing a wheelchair but unfortunately this is not the case for us, because of his specialist needs they don’t provide the custom chair that is needed to meet them, leaving it down to us to find the money for the right chair.

    We have been doing everything we can to raise the money for Toby’s new chair and have so far been able to raise £4000! But we really need help raising the rest! A

    As the new wheelchair is an adult chair it will be the last chair he will ever need and will last him for what we hope will be a very long life!.

    Having this new chair will change everything and make living a life without restriction that much easier.

    Updates

    2

    • Gemma Pearce4 years ago
      Gemma Pearce

      Gemma Pearce

      4 years ago

      I have now changed the amount needed to £4700 as this is now what is needed to reach our target for tobys new wheelchair! There are so many of you to thank so far, a lot of donations have gone straight into tobys account so this is why I wanted to change this target so you can see how close we now are!!!!

      Share this update to help us raise more

    • Gemma Pearce4 years ago
      Gemma Pearce

      Gemma Pearce

      4 years ago

      I have changed the target to £10,000 as that is the remaining amount needed. We have raised £4,500 So far so now we just need to get £10,000 to get toby his chair! Thank you all so much for your continued support!

      Share this update to help us raise more

    5 years ago

    Gemma Pearce started crowdfunding

    Leave a message of support

    Page last updated on: 9/25/2020 07.00

    Supporters

    107

    • Anonymous

      Anonymous

      Sep 25, 2020

      Sending love and best wishes

      £5.00

    • Kevin Moyles

      Kevin Moyles

      Sep 14, 2020

      Anything to help Gary Gillies he does so much for charity.Wishing you all well from the Moylesee clan 🧡🎱🧡

      £50.00

    • Anonymous

      Anonymous

      Sep 14, 2020

      Raffle ticket this time. Good luck and hope you get there soon

      £4.00

    • Shelagh Lavery

      Shelagh Lavery

      Sep 14, 2020

      This donation is from Andover Dawn Breakers the money was raised at their charity dress up day.

      £444.70

    • Anonymous

      Anonymous

      Sep 14, 2020

      Love to you all. Xx

      £100.00

    • Jacqui Gentleman x

      Jacqui Gentleman x

      Sep 12, 2020

      Donated with much love

      £10.00

    • Donna Webb

      Donna Webb

      Sep 10, 2020

      Good luck xx

      £2.00

    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 nonprofit.

    The page owner is responsible for the distribution of funds raised.

    Great people make things happen

    Do you know anyone in need or maybe want to help a local community cause?

    Create you own page and donʼt let that cause go unfunded!

    About Crowdfunding
    About the fundraiser
    Gemma Pearce

    Gemma Pearce

    Andover, Hampshire

    Report this Page