Tony Hudgell, five, has raised over a million pounds.
KENT, England:
Tony Hudgell, five, raised more than a million pounds ($ 1.24 million) for the London hospital that saved his life by walking 10 km on his new prosthetic legs after being inspired by the Captain Tom’s record challenge.
Tony suffered almost fatal abuse from his biological parents when he was a baby, which resulted in the amputation of his legs.
His adoptive mother, Paula Hudgell, said that he had received a set of new members in February and that by barely walking a step a month ago, he could now walk hundreds of meters every day.
The challenge had been “really fun,” said Tony, and although difficult at first, it had gotten easier day by day. He said he felt “really good” about reaching his goal of walking 10 km (6.2 miles) in June with days to spare.
Hudgell said Tony was fighting for his life when she first met him at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital at the age of four months.
“He had all of his limbs broken, he had a blood trauma to the face, sepsis, multiple organ failure, and they never expected him to survive,” she said at the home family run in Kent, in the South East of England. “We brought him home (…) he was broken, stationary, a tiny and tiny little boy.”
Hudgell and her husband adopted Tony in 2016. “We didn’t want him to go anywhere else, he was our little boy at the time,” she said.
Consultant Michail Kokkinakis said that Tony’s determination and the support of his family had helped him cope with several operations.
“I saw him thrive, I saw him grow to be the very confident and bright young boy he is today,” he said.
“He is a huge inspiration to all of us.”
Tony rose to the challenge after watching Tom Moore, 95 years older, walk 100 laps around his garden with a walking frame, lifting 33 million pounds.
Her original goal of 500 pounds had now exceeded one million “absolutely incredible,” said her mother.
She said Tony is now fast and confident on his new legs. “(It) is amazing to think that just three and a half weeks ago, he could barely take a few steps.”
Deciding on his next challenge was a “tough question,” said Tony, but in the longer term, he should become a police officer. “I want to handcuff bad people and thieves,” he said.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
