Six year old Gwen’s selfless Christmas gift
A SIX-year-old Kerry girl has captured the hearts of the county after she selflessly decided to donate her bicycle to a child in need, after illness took away her own chance of enjoying the bike.
Gwen Forde, who suffers from Hypo-Mobility Syndrome and is under early investigation for signs of Arthritis, made the generous offer to her mother Liz, who then posted it on the popular ‘ Tralee Do You Know’ Facebook page.
The post quickly went viral with numerous comments posted praising Gwen’s thoughtfulness and kindness – two traits which her mother Liz says make her very proud to be her mother.
“I think it all started when she was watching a film on TV and she saw that there were all these kids getting their presents – bikes included,” said Liz, talking to The Kerryman on Wednesday morning
“She turned to me and said ‘Mom, my bike is in the shed and there’s noone using it and I can’t use it anymore – why don’t we give it to someone who can use it?’” she added.
Liz explained that because of little Gwen’s illness, it is simply too painful and dangerous for her to ride the bike.
“In the winter time she is really, really sore. It’s not a case that she can’t use the bike anymore, it’s just that if she falls off she’s more prone to breaking a bone and it’ll then be harder for her to heal as quickly as any other child.
“It just simply started hurting her too much to use it so she had to stop,” said Liz.
After the post went viral, it was decided that the bike would be donated to a four-year-old girl in the Arlington Lodge homeless shelter - a revelation that caused Gwen to burst into tears of joy.
“When she found out that the bike was going to be given to a little girl in the homeless shelter, she just started crying. She didn’t realise that young girls here in Kerry could be homeless, she thought that it was only in Dublin that these things happened,” Liz said.
The strength of her daughter’s kindness and genorosity is something that Liz is amazed by.
“At six years of age, for her to come up with the offer of giving away her bike to someone else in need, it just made me so proud.”