An eight-year-old disabled boy is walking 90 metres a day to raise money for the NHS after being inspired by Captain Tom Moore.
Jayden Henderson, who has a neurological condition and hypertonia, only began to take steps with a walker three months ago but will walk 1.5 miles over the course of May to fundraise for frontline health workers.
His mother, Clare Henderson, a full-time carer, said it is a huge distance for him although the youngster has been waking up early with excitement to do his laps.
Jayden walks either 18 laps of her lounge in Felthorpe or at his father’s home, John Henderson, in Worstead, with the added support of his younger sisters Isla, 6, and Ellie, 4.
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Ms Henderson said: “Jayden is so happy to do it and has had a beaming smile on his face each time he does it. He has approached the walks with a lot of energy and been doing two laps at a time rather than one, before that he was only doing about 30 or 40 metres a day. We are very proud of him.”
“It is lovely seeing him laughing while doing the walks and seeing him so happy, although he is a happy boy and never gets upset about anything.”
The idea came to Ms Henderson, 38, last Sunday, when she was thinking of ways to support the NHS and, partly inspired by Captain Tom Moore who walked 100 laps before his 100th birthday to fundraise, decided to raise money with Jayden’s walks.
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Ms Henderson said: “Over the years the NHS has given us a lot of support and have been there for Jayden. We just wanted to give back, especially in these uncertain times, to support them.
“We told his consultant he was doing the walk and she called us back to say it had made her weekend and to say thank you to Jayden.”
Initially, she hoped to fundraise £500 but since launching the GoFundMe page one week ago, has smashed the target and raised over £1,500.
Ms Henderson said: “I never expected to get the response I’ve got so far as the donations just came flooding in and I am completely overwhelmed. We probably won’t raise anything like Captain Tom Moore but we would now love to raise £2,000.”
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