Schoolboy with cerebral palsy raises more than £5,500 for cancer charity
A Shropshire schoolboy with cerebral palsy has smashed his target of £2,500 and raised an incredible £5,560 for a cancer charity by climbing Mount Snowdon.
Oscar Smith, from Shrewsbury, completed the mammoth task beating his target for Stand Up To Cancer, a joint national fundraising campaign between Cancer Research UK and Channel 4.
The eight-year-old climbed to the summit with a support group of 16 other people in two hours and ten minutes.
It’s the second time Oscar has raised money for charity. Last year he raised more than £2,000 for a cerebral palsy charity by climbing the Wrekin.
He said he wanted to raise money for Cancer Research UK this time because, in his words, ‘people with cancer go bald and they might die’.
Dad Liam and mum Steph said they are extremely proud of their son.
Liam said: “Oscar has managed to inspire and amaze so many people around us and he has even had people from all over the UK contribute to the cause and leave him lovely good luck messages.
“His personality and can-do attitude is really infectious and he has a gift of making people smile. Even at this young age he leads and inspires others to join in and push themselves into new challenges.
“We are extremely proud of the contribution he has made for this wonderful charity, and we can’t thank everyone enough for their kind contributions.”
Louise Elliott, Cancer Research UK’s spokesperson for Shropshire, said: “What Oscar has achieved is absolutely astonishing. Thanks to people like him raising funds, our researchers are able to help more people survive - from developing a molecule to super-charge the immune system to attack tumours, to re-programming viruses to seek and destroy cancer cells.
“One-in-two of us will get cancer in our lifetime so we must go further and faster – and all of us can help beat it. That’s why we’re asking everyone to Stand Up To Cancer with us. Whether it’s choosing to donate, fundraise, or tackle the ups and downs of our squats challenge, if thousands of us take a stand we’ll speed up the progress of vital research – meaning more people live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.”
You can still donate to Oscar’s JustGiving page here.
