Birthday fundraiser smashes £3,000 target to support Bottesford youngster Teddy Brown, who developed viral meningitis as a newborn
A community has rallied round to support a young boy who suffered from viral meningitis as a newborn baby.
When he was just 10 days old, Teddy Brown, of Bottesford, became seriously unwell and was admitted to paediatric intensive care to be treated for sepsis.
Tests revealed he has developed viral meningitis, which caused a severe brain injury. He was also subsequently diagnosed with drug resistant epilepsy, four limb dyskinetic cerebral palsy, and cortical visual impairment.
Now, just months away from his third birthday, the community has rallied around to support a fundraiser started by the family’s — Teddy’s parents Lauren and Stuart, and older brother Robert — former next-door-neighbour Jodie Comrie-Gunn and her friend Helen Sewell.
The online fundraiser has already exceeded it’s £3,000 target, and the pair are also selling raffle tickets — with prizes having been donated by businesses including Grantham Squash Club, Margo and Plum, Watkins Butchers, Little Jacks Farm, Harlaxton Manor, Sid’s Fruit and Veg, Ruddington Golf Club, Orston Shooting Ground, The Wheatsheaf Bingham, Star Discounts, Hickory’s Smokehouse, Belton House, Belvoir Castle, Southwell Racecourse, Worksop Golf Club, JSX Performance, Bingham Arena, Clive Lancaster Butchers, Chequers Woolsthorpe, Paperskin Tattoo, and more.
Teddy’s mum, Lauren, said: “It’s just been really overwhelming to be honest, it’s brought us to tears multiple times that people are willing to donate things to help Teddy. We just can’t believe how kind people have been — even for Jodie to arrange it, to think to organise it.
“We’re really grateful, it’s hard to put into words really.
“We know how special Teddy is, but people who’ve never even met him want to help and that means a lot, and says a lot about the community.”
The funds raised will help pay, via charity Just4Children, for Teddy’s extra physiotherapy as well as specialist equipment for him.
“At the moment he’s functioning at a nought to four month old level, even though he’s nearly three,” Lauren added.
“We’re working on sitting with him at the moment. If he was able to sit in a more stable position then he’d be able to interact with his brother a bit more, hopefully, and improve his interaction with his peers.
“It will just improve his comfort as well, the different bits of equipment we want to get, and overall improve his quality of life.”
Teddy’s brain injury was initially believed to be mild — but over the next few months he was not meeting developmental milestones and was often in and out of hospital with uncontrollable seizures.
He spent another spell in intensive care at four months old, and further scans revealed the severity of his brain injury — with doctors saying he would likely have a significantly reduced quality of life and not be able to communicate.
Thankfully the introduction of a ketogenic diet at seven months old had helped lessen the cocktail of medication Teddy had previously been prescribed, and he has reached a better place than the family ever thought possible — he smiles, ‘has the most beautiful voice’, and splashes in the bath.
The specialist equipment, which is often very expensive, will help aid his ongoing development.
Jodie said: “What happened to the family is just horrific — it’s always been in the back of my mind that I wanted to do something for them. Helen, who I work with, said lets just do something.
“It’s kind of escalated because I started asking people would like to donate things, and people have been so generous with things for the raffle. We’ve had some people who have donated and not even asked about raffle tickets.
“Twinlakes have given a family pass, we’ve got Belvoir Castle, Harlaxton Manor, Easton Walled Gardens — there’s a Chinese restaurant in Bingham which has sent a £100 gift voucher. Gablestock in Long Bennington which specialise in dog food and bird seed have donated a bag of bird seed which is £40 to £50, then we’ve had something like Worksop Golf Club which has donated a round of golf for four people — so it’s kind of gone from one extreme to the other.
“Then we’ve had companies like Vale Clearance who’ve donated £250, like Lauren said ‘I don’t even know them’ yet they’ve been so brilliant to donate something like that. We’ve had a really good response.”
Contact Jodie Comrie-Gunn via Facebook to buy raffle tickets, and donations to the online fundraiser can be made via www.justgiving.com/page/helen-sewell-6.
The raffle draw will take place on Saturday, June 21, at The Rutland Arms, Bottesford, which will also be an opportunity for everyone who has supported the fundraiser to get together.
