Meet Thomas, the bubbly and determined eight-year-old who learnt to stand and walk by himself, despite being diagnosed with cerebral palsy at five months old.
Thomas is the face of Gold Coast Hospital Foundation’s Gold Coast Marathon campaign, encouraging the community to go one step further and sign up to run and fundraise for the Foundation at the 2023 marathon on 1-2 July. Every dollar raised will help the Foundation fund the purchase of more equipment to help patients like Thomas when needed.
Born three months prematurely suffering a bilateral brain bleed, Thomas faced many challenges and uncertainty. Thomas spent the first four months of his life in hospital, struggled to feed and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy only one month after coming home.
His parents, Kate and Stephen, didn’t know if their precious son would ever walk, talk or eat by himself.
Against all odds, Thomas learned to stand and took his first steps by using the specialist Leckey Totstander equipment purchased by Gold Coast Hospital Foundation, thanks to generous donations from supporters in the community.
“Thomas wouldn’t be walking at all without your support,” Kate said.
Specialist medical aids, like the equipment Thomas relied on, are financially out of reach for most families. Every dollar raised in the lead up to the Gold Coast Marathon will help Gold Coast Hospital Foundation fund the purchase of more equipment that can be loaned to other patient’s families like Thomas’s when needed.