Giving Adderbury boy wish to walk by raising £85k with fundraising year

Billy Humphreys lives a normal life, other than the fact he cannot use his legs properly, meaning he uses sticks or a wheelchair to get around.

Doctors are stumped, with his parents travelling around the country to find an answer to little avail.

His family see the best option is to raise tens of thousands of pounds to pay for physiotherapy and surgery in a few years.

Billy’s mother, Karen, said: “He’s so bright and with it, he asks us why he can’t walk and it’s heartbreaking because we can’t answer that. But we can put all our efforts in helping him as best as we can.”

So far they have raised more than £6,000 from a ‘pamper and Prosecco’ evening last November and lots of donations, but there are plans for a year of fundraising to hit the target.

Karen is arranging afternoon tea in May, a family fun day in the summer, a bikeathon in Castle Quay as Billy’s father, Peter, is a keen cyclist, and a charity ball in November.

Billy’s aunt and uncle, Michael and Sue Horne, are having their hair and his beard cut off for the appeal, with the hair being donated to people with cancer.

Michael has been given the all clear after being diagnosed with kidney cancer six years ago, and Karen said he felt the time was right to brave the shave and support his nephew.

“We want to do a mix of things as we don’t want to feel like we’re pestering people for money by doing things people will enjoy, hopefully they will be happier to support us,” she said.

“We’re lucky we’ve got amazing family and friends who are suggesting loads of things to do.”

Initially Karen and Pete thought Billy was perfectly healthy, but a friend noticed his head was tilted over and his feet were really stiff at around three-months-old.

From there, he has been having physio but paediatricians have been unable to understand why he cannot use his legs properly.

Doctors do not think Billy has cerebral palsy, which has similar symptoms, as he has no mental issues, proven by an all-clear MRI scan.

So they need to raise a lot of money to pay for surgery to reduce the spasticity in his legs but they need to wait two to three years until they have a proper diagnosis.

The family is working with charity Tree of Hope so if Billy cannot have the surgery, the money raised will be used for his physiotherapy and potentially help another child with similar issues.

To donate or for more information about Billy’s cause, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/billyhumphreys.