PARENTS of a Coventry boy have raised over £17,000 to brighten youngsters lives when being cared for by University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.
Shay Stothard was 16 months old when diagnosed with cancer last October – after undergoing chemotherapy he was given the all clear and rang the ‘End of Treatment Bell’ on September 17.
His parents, Corinne Sullivan and Lewis Stothard said they were devastated when Shay was diagnosed with cancer and there lives completely changed.
Corrine said: “We spent many days and evenings apart as a family with Shay needing stays in hospital.
“The care he has received has been outstanding. The staff really know Shay and go out of their way to make sure he is happy.
“We wanted to make that the ward was a more vibrant, happier place for children to stay, especially those like Shay who are isolated in rooms or who see hospital as a second home during long periods of treatment.”
The couple have been fundraising with businesses including Nat Silverwood from OneFitMama, who provides health and fitness classes for women; the team at One
Wellness; and Katie Darcy from Willow Bee Wellness, who runs mum and baby yoga classes and the recently launched Tower Pilates studio.
A ‘Day for Shay’ event raised over £10,000 as well as other donations made through JustGiving.
Corrine added: “After the hardest year of our lives, we are proud to have found something so positive to take out of this situation and to be able to help other families who are also in difficult circumstances is priceless.”
Corinne and Lewis came into the hospital to deliver toys, games, arts and craft supplies, and £500 worth of Marks and Spencer’s vouchers for parents of seriously ill children to use while they are in hospital.
They have also commissioned artwork for various murals to go up in the corridors, side rooms and bays on Ward 16.
Amie Mills, health play specialist in the Paediatrics Department, said: “This is an amazing act of generosity. Shay has only just finished his chemotherapy, and while his parents were fundraising, he was still undergoing chemotherapy and waiting for his end of treatment scan, so for them to take their time to focus on helping other families when they were going through such a tough time themselves is remarkable.
“Donations are still coming in and we are working together to look at other ways in which the money can be spent.”
