52 Lives

#121 Tommie

Request: Donations for carpet and a sofa / messages for Tommie

This week, we want to do something special for a little boy called Tommie and his parents, Luke and Jodie.

Tommie is 5 years old and has cerebral palsy. His dad, Luke is a labourer, and his mum Jodie does voluntary work and cares for Tommie.

Tommie went into Great Ormond Street Hospital last Friday to have an SDR operation, which will help to improve his muscle stiffness. As a family, they needed to raise more than £25,000 to fund this operation - which they have now done, after a lot of efforts and sacrifice. They are also having to fund Tommie's physio after the operation which will be around £1000 a month.

Luke and Jodie have worked so hard and every penny they have is going into helping their son. It hasn’t been easy, but they did it. Then last month they had a big set-back. They discovered a rodent infestation in their home. It was severe, and they had to move out of the house temporarily, pull up the carpets and floorboards, and get rid of their sofa.

They have been fundraising so hard to help Tommie over the past few months, and this extra expense couldn't have come at a worse time. They desperately want to have a proper home for Tommie to come back to. And we want to help them.

What We Need

1. £1600 in donations - To replace their carpet and buy a new sofa that's suitable for Tommie (it needs to have a lot of back support). To make a donation to help the family buy these items, please click the link below. If we raise more than they need, the extra money will help to cover Tommie's on-going physio costs.

2. Messages for Tommie - Tommie has had a lot of deal with in his 5 years of life, and we want to let him know we think he’s a pretty special little boy. To send Tommie a message, you can email admin@52-lives.org or post a card to 52 Lives (Life 121) PO Box 329, Hampton, TW12 9DF.

What We Did

- We raised almost £1200 to buy them new carpet and a new sofa, just in time for Tommie to come for Christmas.

- The amazing team at DFS donated an additional large armchair for Tommie, which has been perfect for his needs and his recovery.

- We sent Tommie some beautiful cards and messages from people all over the world.

- As part of our School Kindness Project, Tommie will receive dozens of Get Well cards, drawings, decorations and video messages from the students at Isleworth Town Primary School.

Thankyou so much to every single one of you who sent a message, shared the story or made a donation. A huge thank you to the team at DFS who so generously donated the giant armchair for Tommie, to Graham for helping us to make all the arrangements, to Gala Bingo for their generous fundraising support, to the children at Isleworth Town Primary for their incredible kindness, and to Natalie for telling us about Tommie in the first place.

You have all helped to make this family's life so much easier. His mum sent a message for us to share with everyone (pictured far below)