Night of glamour raises thousands for man who defies all the odds
ACHARITY ball raised more than £10,000 to buy a hand cycle for a popular Ormskirk man who has defied the odds.
The red carpet ball was held at Hurlston Hall in Scarisbrick to raise £8,500 to buy equipment for 31-yearold Sam Formby, who is studying to be a counsellor at West Lancashire College.
Sam suffered a bleed on the brain at the age of 15, and his parents were told he had only a 50/50 chance of survival.
He was admitted to the intensive care unit and underwent several operations, during which time he was in a coma.
He was in hospital for more than a year and his family were advised that he would probably never speak again and would have to be fed through a tube for the rest of his life.
Since then, though, Sam has started to talk again and is able to feed himself, and continues to defy the doctors’ prognosis.
His injuries mean that he is now confined to an electric wheelchair but Sam has completed two half marathons and one full marathon and, in doing so, raised money for charities Derian House, Rainbow House and Jospice.
He enjoys going to the gym every day and aims to take part in six marathons in a year to raise more money for his selected charities.
But he is unable to do so as he competes uses a specially adapted hand cycle, which was damaged beyond repair while being brought back from his last marathon.
Sam’s friends and Ormskirk residents David Luton, Toby Robinson and Jill Martin organised a fundraiser to buy a replacement.
Jill is the owner of The Edge Café in Ormskirk, where Sam is a regular customer. She said: “The wonderful news is that we managed to raise a whopping £10,052 on the night – and we still have money coming in from the auction that took place.
“This has allowed us to book Sam in for his first fitting for his hand cycle which takes place at the end of this month with David Luton.”
At the charity ball, Sam told the guests: “I have been overwhelmed by all your generosity and I promise I am going to make you all very proud of me.”
Now that Sam is set to get his new hand cycle, he is focused on completing six marathons over 12 months to raise funds for several charities.
In order to do this, another fundraising raffle has been launched in order to fund much-needed physio for Sam – which costs up to £60 per half-hour session.
Jill added: “The objective of the raffle is to raise enough money to pay for physio for Sam to ensure his fitness is up to the mammoth task he has set himself.”
One of the many raffle prizes on offer is a diamond necklace worth £1,200, which was donated by Joseph’s Jewellers in Ormskirk.
For anyone who would like to enter the raffle, tickets cost £5 for five from various venues in Ormskirk.
The draw is to take place on May 21, and anyone interested in purchasing tickets can ring The Edge Café on 01695 571476 for more information.