Kind-hearted Callum’s run for his brother
A KIND-HEARTED young footballer from Luddenden Foot has raised money to buy sensory equipment for his little brother by running 28 miles.
Callum Cushing, 19, who plays for FC Halifax Town’s academy team, ran 28 miles, from the bottom of Luddenden Foot, into Mytholmroyd, up to Cragg Vale, a lap of Hollingworth Lake, through Walsden and Todmorden and back to Luddenden Foot, in a time of four hours and 20 minutes on Saturday, February 20.
Callum raised £3,965 from the challenge, half of which will help pay for some sensory equipment, such as bubble lights and mirrors, for his little brother Blake, three, to have at home and the other half will go to Blake’s school, Hollybank, in Mirfield, which offers respite care for children and adults with disabilities.
Proud dad Alan said: “I think it’s amazing, I can’t get over it, I’ll forever be grateful for what he’s done. One of my other children, Jacob, who is 15, ran about 14 miles of it, and Callum’s cousin, Curtis Beddow, helped out. There were two of Callum’s friends, one was Joe Adams, who is 18, and another lad, Harvey Williams, who rode the whole circuit on a bike with Callum.”
Blake lives with mum Joanne, 35, dad Alan, 37, and siblings Callum, Jacob, 15, Tiegan, 14, Ruby, 11, and Finlay, 10.
“He was born at 23 weeks and they had to take him to Burnley Hospital,” Alan said. “A week after he was born they transferred him to Manchester because they found some problems with his stomach.
“He was there for about 10 months, and they found out he had an unsafe swallow, chronic lung disease. Obviously he’s disabled, he can’t eat, so they put a central line in him which goes directly into his heart, which runs for 22 hours a day. He’s most of his bowel and all of his intestines removed, and he’s sight impaired, he can’t see properly. He goes to Hollybank School in Mirfield and he loves these sensory things, but they don’t come cheap.”
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