The Bradley Stoke Journal

Toby Cox, the young cerebral palsy sufferer from Bradley Stoke who travelled to the USA for an operation to help him walk unaided, is said to be “doing fine” three days after the procedure at St Louis Children’s Hospital.

Local people and businesses rallied round to raise the £38,000 required to pay for Toby’s travel and operation in response to the Help Toby Walk appeal started by Toby’s parents Donna and Ian Cox.

Writing on the appeal’s blog, Donna Cox says Toby has been in a lot of pain since the operation but he was able to sit up and have some breakfast yesterday (Sunday) morning.

Before leaving for the USA, Mrs Cox explained to The Journal that any money raised beyond the £38,000 target will go towards the cost of Toby’s post-operative physiotherapy, which, like the operation, will not be funded by the NHS.

Toby will also need paediatric exercise equipment at home that will enable him to establish strength and stamina in muscles that have not been used before.

The final fundraising event to be held before the family’s departure for the USA was a five-a-side football tournament organised by the Willow Brook Centre and Bradley Stoke Police.

Winners of the competition, which was contested by five local teams, were ‘Tesco Finest’ from Bradley Stoke’s Tesco Extra store.

Town Mayor Ben Walker was on hand to present the trophy (photo above) at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre. [See more photos of the football tournament on PicasaWeb].

Before leaving for the USA, Mrs Cox told The Journal:

“We would like to thank everyone who has helped us reach this fabulous fundraising figure, and are also very grateful for the monies now received for his aftercare.”

“We have been witness to some amazing efforts, both big and small, we have been humbled by the efforts some people have gone to to help our little boy, and I personally have been reduced to tears on many occasions by people’s words and kind thoughts.”

A community football tournament organised by the local police team is to help raise funds to send a five-year-old boy to the USA for a life-changing operation.

The Bradley Stoke Community Shield five-a-side football tournament, to be held on Saturday 5th June at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre, will raise money to help cerebal palsy sufferer Toby Cox.

Family and friends are currently trying to raise £36,000 to pay for an operation at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital that will hopefully remove the spasticity in his legs and allow Toby to walk unaided with a significantly improved level of comfort.

Officers based at Filton police station and staff from the Willow Brook Centre have joined in with the efforts to raise the money.

Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Paul Baxter said:

“We were already planning to run a football tournament as part of our efforts to bring the community together to make it safer and stronger.”

“When we heard about Toby, we immediately decided to make the event bigger and better in support of the campaign.”

Teams representing the neighbourhood police, the Willow Brook Centre, Tesco, Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre, teachers from Bradley Stoke Community School and Shirehampton Ladies’ football team will play in the contest.

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One thousand balloons were launched from the Town Square on Saturday afternoon, in the latest event to raise funds to send a local boy to the USA for an operation that will help him walk.

Five-year-old Toby Cox, who attends Holy Trinity Primary School, was born with cerebal palsy. He can only walk with the aid of a frame and finds walking, playing and sitting difficult and uncomfortable.

Toby has been offered the chance of an operation at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital that will hopefully remove the spasticity in his legs and allow him to walk unaided with a significantly improved level of comfort.

The operation, planned for 17th June, will cost £36,000, of which just over £16,000 has been pledged so far.

Toby’s parents say they will pay for their own flight, together with food and accommodation costs for a one month stay in St Louis.

The balloons and gas for Saturday’s event were donated by McDonalds with Subway, KFC and Specsavers helping out when the gas ran out. Free ice cream for the helpers was provided by Carl of G & J Ices, whose van trades outside  the Willow Brook Centre at weekends.

Further fund raising events taking place in Bradley Stoke include a Toby Fun Day at Bradley Stoke Community School on Saturday 29th May and a Charity Shield Football Tournament at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre on Saturday 5th June.

Numerous other fundraising events taking place further afield are listed on the Help Toby Walk website, through which donations can be made via PayPal. There is also a Help Toby Walk Facebook page, where the latest campaign news can be found.

More photos of Saturday’s balloon race launch: album; slideshow