Kim and Jack after their race
A caring Derbyshire six-year-old boy and his mum have raised nearly £3,000 after conquering five kilometres of giant inflatable obstacles to help families with very poorly children.
Jack Reid, from Turnditch near Belper, was joined by his mum Kim to tackle the Inflatable 5K at Donington Park, braving a lot of mud and raising £2,900 for the Sick Children’s Trust from their efforts.
The trust is a charity which provides places in different UK hospitals for families to stay to help keep them together when a child becomes seriously ill. Kim and her plucky son were inspired to raise money for the charity as it has helped their own family after Jack’s baby cousin Lewis was diagnosed with meningitis and sepsis.
In and out of hospital in Sheffield since he was a few weeks’ old, doctors have called little Lewis a miracle baby.
Kim said: “The Sick Children’s Trust was able to help out after Lewis was diagnosed with meningitis and sepsis at a few weeks’ old. The trust provided a room in the hospital where my sister and brother-in-law could go and get some sleep. They could stay and live with Lewis. It helps families stay with their children when they’re very poorly.
“It has been a huge deal for them. It’s awful to see your own child go through something so horrific and not be able to do anything to help other than be at their bedside and give them that bit of comfort. At least if they’re there they can give him a cuddle.
“It has been tough but to know that the charity has been there and has helped them so much – financially as well, otherwise they would have to have got a hotel and I dread to think how much that would have cost. When a child’s in that situation you don’t want to leave them. To have that space where you can go and freshen up and feel a little bit normal has been great.”
Kim said Jack had been keen to try and help the charity that had supported his baby cousin.
“He’s quite a sporty little boy,” said Kim. “He was saying he wanted to help poorly children to be with their mums and dads.
“He was very determined and he smashed it! It was 5k and there were 32 obstacles, and hills to run up. It was very wet and cold, we were both covered in mud!”
Jack and Kim’s fundraising was supported by Lubrizol, the Hazelwood based chemistry company where Kim works as a project specialist. Lubrizol made a donation to their inflatables challenge through its charities and communities committee, boosting their total by a significant amount.
Kim said: “Lubrizol’s support is great. It’s one of the most difficult times of your life as a parent when a child is that poorly. What this charity does is keep families together.
“I’m proud to work for a company who are so willing to give to the charity for what Jack and I did. We will be forever grateful.”
Claire Hollingshurst, from Lubrizol’s charities and communities committee, said: “When we heard about what Kim and Jack were doing for the Sick Children’s Trust we were so impressed. We’re very happy to support our employees doing fantastic charitable efforts for great causes such as this one – congratulations to Kim and Jack for smashing their race!”
Young Jack’s efforts have so impressed his community at Turnditch CE Primary School that he has been put forward for a prestigious Bishop’s Badge.
Kim and Jack’s fundraising page on Just Giving was in the top five per cent of entries for the popular site in April. Their page is still open for donations: bit.ly/3IeaBn5
