Regular readers will be aware that as a business we try to support local trusts, charities and various causes. Sometimes we sponsor, sometimes we join with national events and sometimes we offer prizes for fundraising events. David and the team at our Wisbech store have recently been moved by the story of a local young man, Billy Lee.
Billy, a 20 year old trainee electrician with Bloom and Wake , was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer known as sarnovia sarcoma, after complaining of severe pain in his knee, which later spread to his hip. Unfortunately, by the time the diagnosis was made, a tumour the size of a baked bean tin had grown in his leg; Billy’s right leg and part of his hip was amputated.
Billy’s Mum, Bex, in an interview with the Wisbech Standard, said that she’s determined to give her son the normal life he deserves
She said: “He has been brilliant but he has said a lot of things including that he won’t go out with his mates again or take his girlfriend to a restaurant due to body image; it breaks our heart.”
“We have since discovered this type of cancer, although rare, is common in young people and is associated with height, growth spurts and growing pains. Billy is 6ft 1in tall, he had growing pains and he has also had a massive growth spurt.
“If we had realised this type of cancer is linked to these things we might have thought about it earlier when he first started complaining about pain in his knee that then went to his hip,” she said.
Billy, who stood up for the first time just two days after the gruelling operation, will be fitted with a training leg, effectively for balance, but his family are hoping to raise £70,000 for Billy to have a fully functioning leg, not currently funded through the NHS.
Billy’s family & friends, including Mum, Dad Spencer, girlfriend Shirley and sisters Reneé, 12, and Sydney, 9 have set up a Facebook page for people to make donations to a charity they are launching to raise the £70,000. On-going fundraising will be needed to help pay for five yearly maintenance and repairs of the leg, which will cost around £18,500 each time.
Local charity, “A Local Wish” is also helping raise money for the cause and our Wisbech team are also getting involved. In the store, on the Market Place, there’s plenty going on instore, to help raise funds. A collection jar is filling up nicely and we’re running a raffle to win a fabulous Asus tablet (just £1 a ticket , with the draw taking place on 31st March). That’s not all, though: on the 3rd of May, manager of our Wisbech store, David, will be taking park in the Kings Lynn gear 10k run and raising money through sponsorship all for Billy’s fund.
To find out more about this great cause, visit Billy’s Facebook page or visit the team in our Market Place store and help us to help a young man back on his own 2 feet.
