You helped Tye change thousands of lives
CLUTCHING his rucksack, Tye Hawkins chatted excitedly with his mum Clair on the way to school.
Then, in the blink of an eye, their lives changed for ever.
One moment the 10-year-old was by his mother’s side, steadying his scooter as he waited to cross the road to their car.
The next, he was lying in a heap after being struck by a speeding motorbike and flung 15 yards up the road.
Tye’s injuries were so bad his devastated family had him christened in hospital because doctors told them he was unlikely to wake again. But Clair never stopped believing her son would pull through, and Tye came out of his coma three weeks after the accident.
Although his recovery was remarkable, he was left with a brain injury that left him unable to dress himself, hold a pen or knife and fork, or ride his scooter again.
That’s where the Child Brain Injury Trust stepped in, supporting Tye and his family as he battled back to health.
EMOTIONAL The charity was chosen as a finalist in The People’s Projects in 2016, in which the public vote for schemes to receive up to £50,000 of National Lottery funding. And Tye was determined to help them win.
The brave youngster made an emotional video appeal about how they had helped him. It was shown on regional ITV News.
His heart-wrenching film, in which he describes his frustration at not being able to do things he used to, struck a chord with the public, who voted for the organisation to receive an award of £49,900.
The cash has enabled them to extend their work to reach 4,000 more families with youngsters with brain injuries.
Mum Clair Yoxall, 44, said: “I’m so proud. He always liked helping others. He told me he wanted other children to know they aren’t alone, and repay the Trust for being there for him.”
He’s still my cheeky little boy... he’s still got that spark in his eyes
SELFLESS GESTURE Tye’s case highlights how the money you spend on National Lottery tickets transforms lives. Louise Wilkinson, of the Child Brain Injury Trust, said the money, awarded by a public vote from funds raised by Lottery ticket sales, has helped thousands of families. She said: “The money helped us produce a book to help schoolchildren understand acquired brain injuries, which was sent to 12,000 schools in Wales. A pack with the book and information reached 4,000 families. “Many families who didn’t know there was support out there for them now do.” She added: “Tye is a very engaging young man with a big heart, and he was the reason we won the People’s Projects funding. He is an inspiration.” Clair, of Mountain Ash, near Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, still shudders as she remembers the moment the hit-and-run driver hit her son outside her house in September 2015. She said: “I’d just put my youngest daughter on the school bus, and we were waiting to cross the road to get in the car. It was his second day at school, he TYE’S MUM CLAIR couldn’t wait to see his friends again.
“Then suddenly a motorbike came towards us at high speed. In a split second Tye had been flung up the road. I knew straight away he was brain damaged. I was just thinking, ‘please don’t die here’.”
BIG HEART Tye was airlifted to the University of Wales hospital in Cardiff. The next day doctors broke the news to mum-of-six Clair that Tye’s brain had been damaged.
She remembered: “They told me he would never be the same. But I refused to accept it. Tye is such a strong-willed child, I knew he would fight and get through it.
“And that’s just what happened. Tye is still the cheeky little boy I had before. He’s got more difficulties now, but he’s still got that same spark in his eye.” Tye and his mum Clair Tye appears in TV show telling his story Tye was rushed to hospital in Cardiff