Family 'brought to tears' after fundraiser means child with cerebral palsy can have specialist bike

James Salmon raised just over £2,500 for his son, surpassing his goal of £2,000, which will allow them to hopefully upgrade his wheelchair too.

Five-year-old Hugo has cerebral palsy which prevents him from walking unaided and has to use a wheelchair to get around.

A specialist bike would offer Hugo the chance to improve his fitness and develop the strength he needs to help with his physical abilities.

In his GoFundMe James said: "Hugo is my five-year-old son, who is the most loving, funny and adventurous person I know.

"Hugo misses out on quite a bit of the physical activities that other kids do. Hugo is unable to ride a conventional bike and requires a specialist bike with a gait trainer as well as providing resistance training to help him gain strength, which in turn would help Hugo gain the independence he deserves."

Now the target has been reached a specialist bike has been ordered and should arrive in the coming weeks, and then Hugo will be able to ride his bike with his siblings.

James told this paper: "It felt amazing and quite overwhelming to be honest, it brought us to tears. When we made the fund, I honestly thought we might get a couple of hundred at most, within a few weeks.

"Never did we think that we would get past the target, and especially in under 48 hours. The generosity people have shown has been amazing. It's really tough times for everyone at the moment, so for this to happen now, just feels extra special.

"Going past the target has allowed us to look into hopefully upgrading his wheelchair as well, as the current one he has isn't great to be honest."

The new wheelchair is hoped to be much easier for Hugo to manoeuvre in compared to his current one, and the family has booked in a home visit to try some out.

If you would like to keep up to date with how Hugo is getting on or to donate, visit: uk.gofundme.com/f/specialist-bike-for-5yr-old-with-cerebral-palsy.