On Sunday 7th May, Chatham Town FC are hosting a special day to celebrate the life of Freddy Leitch, a young fan who passed away on Sunday 23rd April. Please help us show solidarity with Freddy's family, as we raise money for Demelza Hospice & CGD Society, who supported Freddy throughout the last few years of his life.

Freddy was born with a blood disorder called CGD, a life-threatening and life-limiting condition. In 2018, at four years old, Freddy had a bone marrow transplant to cure the CGD. After the bone marrow transplant, Freddy suffered multiple infections and complications resulting in numerous surgeries, scans and intensive care stays. His mum, Kirsty, learned how to administer IV antibiotics and TPN so that Freddy could spend as much time at home as possible.

One of the infections that Freddy had in 2019 was called BK Virus in the bladder. The hospital started treatment and thought that they had cleared it. However, in 2021, Freddy's kidney function began to deteriorate. The doctors believed that this was caused by the medication Freddy was on for his osteoporosis, so they decided to stop the medication to see if it would help.

At the beginning of 2022, Freddy went into GOSH to have a kidney biopsy as his kidney function wasn’t improving. The biopsy didn‘t go as planned and Freddy collapsed in Kirsty's arms and became unresponsive. He was rushed back down to surgery and Kirsty was told that Freddy may not make it through the surgery. He was in surgery for 5 hours, the longest 5 hours of Kirsty's life. When she finally got to see him in intensive care, she was told the next 24/48 hours were important. Freddy, being the superhero he is, fought hard and came out the other side.

The results from the kidney biopsy showed that Freddy's kidneys had been attacked and taken over by the BK virus. This had been dormant in his body since 2019 and suddenly reactivated. Unfortunately, Freddy's immune system hadn‘t fully recovered from the bone marrow transplant. Kirsty was told to take Freddy home and make memories as they didn‘t know how long his kidneys would last.

Freddy spent as much time at home making memories with his sister Ivy-Rose. In December 2022, Freddy became ill with a line infection and spent Christmas in hospital. He was due to go to Disneyland Paris in January 2023, but this had to be cancelled as Freddy wasn‘t well enough to travel. They continued to make memories in the UK and were hoping to go to Eurodisney in May.

On the weekend of the 15th April, Freddy started to become very unwell. Two days later, Kirsty was told that there wasn’t anymore treatment available for Freddy.

After fighting through another week whilst receiving end of life care, Freddy passed away peacefully in his sleep around 4pm on Sunday 23rd of April.

We have set up this donation page to raise money for Demelza Hospice and the CGD Society, who helped support Freddy and his family throughout this heartbreaking time.

If you are local to Kent and the surrounding areas, please join us on Sunday 7th May for Freddy's Heroes Football Match and Charity Day at Chatham Town FC. As well as the match that features Chatham Town FC first team players, superheroes & special guests, there will also be entertainment all afternoon including DJs, live singers, giveaways, cake stands, football challenges, food, drinks and much more! As well as lifesize superheroes, Disney characters and a balloon release.