50 MILE WALK FOR AMPCAMP KIDS

Hello my name is Paul Ellis 

Myself and my Friend David Parr  will be fundraising to help Ben Lovell  send six amazing and children along with their Families to AMPCAMPKIDS for a life changing holiday of a lifetime spending a week in a 10 bedroom luxury villa on the island of Tenerife they will meet other children who have been through similar experiences 

I myself am a Double Below Knee Amputee since 2008

Me and David will be walking from Widnes to Halifax in Banana Suites on the 27/11/2021 which is over 50 miles which is the length of the 2 London marathons it will take us over 20 hours to complete it's going to be a hard challenge and a tough day but one we want to do to help raise funds and Awareness for Ampcamp Kids with your help we can send six children and their families to AMPCAMPKIDS in Tenerife which will be life changing Thanks for all your Help and Support

Below are some of the amazing children that are going to Ampcamp kids In Tenerife

 

 

 

Taylor

 

This bio was sent by his mom

 

April 20th 2015 was the day Taylor’s life changed forever, up until then he was a healthy baby.

 

He was blue lighted to hospital, while fighting for his life. We was told he had meningococcal septicaemia (Meningitis).

 

They put Taylor into an induced coma and we was taken to a side room where we was advised to get our family members up immediately to say there goodbyes, most heart breaking words to hear! But Taylor being Taylor and the fighter he is, pulled through.

 

While In his coma we was told the meningitis / sepsis had already caused significant damages to his little body already, his kidneys had failed which meant being put on dialysis, and his little legs and hands were dying.

 

Due to the damaged caused he had to have both legs amputated through the knee and all his digits on both hands. He has stage 2 chronic kidney disease, liver damage and also lost his spleen leaving him on life long antibiotics.

 

From falling ill at 8 months old to being 7 now Taylor has had over 80 General anaesthetics / operations, and will continue throughout his life to have more.

 

Despite all this Taylor has never stopped smiling nor let any of this stop him doing what he wants to do, he is the most determined little lad going. He loves all kind of sports & activities including football, skateboarding, rocking climbing and most of all fast cars. He never gives up!

 

The hardest part as a mother is seeing Taylor get upset or frustrated about not having legs or fingers, when he is having is off days.

 

Being able to spend time with other amazing children and families would help Taylor to build his own confidence, he would absolutely thrive from being around other children like him self.

 

Amelia

 

A little bit about Amelia:

On Amelia’s 7th birthday, August 2017, she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma tumour in her left femur.

After 2 cycles of intense chemo, scans revealed the tumour had not shrunk so her leg would need to be amputated, then a further 10 months of chemo.

We were given 2 options - 1) full amputation to her hip, which would mean she would permanently be a wheelchair user and no prosthesis option really. 2) Rotationplasty surgery - a rare procedure in England where her knee and thigh is removed, lower leg saved and reattached to the top of her leg backwards. This, if successful, results in her foot being used as her ‘knee’ and therefore a working joint to attach a prosthesis to.

Amelia chose rotationplasty after watching a YouTube video of a girl in America who had the same procedure and after time was able to dance again.

Amelia’s aim has been to dance again, which 10 months after her surgery she achieved with her first prosthesis.

Now Amelia has further goals she wants to achieve. In the past 2 years she amazes us with her determination and so far has learnt to ride a specialised trike, climb, roller skate, ice skate, water body board, continues her swimming lessons, loves assault courses and hopes to achieve more athletic activity when she hopefully gets her first blade this summer.

Amelia happily shares her story and hopes to inspire other children by

 

 

Reuben

 

In July 2015 Reuben suffered a minor burn, despite him being really unwell and a hospital check up we were advised he was fine and had tonsillitis. The next day Reuben was admitted to hospital with severe sepsis. He was blue lighted to St Mary's London from Ipswich, on arrival there it was clear Reuben was fighting for his life.

 

I was told that I needed to prepare myself for goodbye and that the most to hope for was he would make it through the night.

 

Reuben in his true fighting nature defied the odds and made it to the next day. Then the consultant informed us that he had suffered extreme damage to his feet and hands, in order to try and save at least one of his feet he needed to have urgent surgery which did come with risk as he was still in an induced coma and on life support.

 

Again his strength shone through and he got through the operation. The consultant called us in an she had tears in her eyes as she said that the signs were goid for Reuben surviving but there was no indication as to the extent of the organ and brain damage until he was woken up and that it was highly likely he would lose one or both legs as well as his hands.

 

By this time his feet and fingers were turning black from the damage but all I could think was my son is alive and its only legs and fingers!

 

I was very naive but hugely grateful Reuben was still with us.

 

The next few weeks were a blur and resulted in Reuben having two below knee amputations and 7 finger amputations.

 

From the day I came so close to losing him I made a promise to myself whatever happened I would keep positive .

 

That was not always easy when having to fight to get basics like a wheelchair and seeing your 3 year old child cry in pain from badly fitting prosthetics. But that made me more determined to fight and ensure he was never held back from doing anything.

 

Fast forward and Reuben is now a very energetic and positive 8 year old. An 8 year old that has been through more than many in this world but never let's anything stop him.Up

 

 

William

 

Until January last year William was a healthy little boy who loved to be outside running around in the garden with his little sister.

One weekend he became poorly with what we thought was just a bug, unfortunately it turned out to be sepsis and our lives were turned upside down. William was induced into a coma and blue lighted to the nearest paediatric intensive care unit. On arrival his heart stopped and we were told to say our goodbyes. It’s the most painful experience of our lives and every parents worst nightmare.

Incredibly, being the little fighter he is, after 8 days in a coma, he pulled through. But that was just the start. The sepsis had caused irreparable damage to his hands and feet and in March last year he had both legs and nine fingers amputated.

It’s been heartbreaking to see him go through so much pain and have to sit on the sidelines watching his sister. However in true William style he’s never stopped smiling. He was soon being fitted for prosthetics, learning to walk again, started school in September and is the happiest little boy I know. Yes life now has its challenges but with his attitude we know there’s nothing he won’t overcome.

Unfortunately due to covid William hasn’t been able to meet any other children with prosthetics and is starting to realise he is different to all his friends at school. To be able to spend a week with lots of other brilliant kids like him would be amazing!

 

Gemma Reckless