FRIENDS of a Bromsgrove boy, who needs to raise £10,000 to help him walk, are planning to tackle the Three Peak Challenge to help him reach his target.
Brothers Darren and Rich Smith will be joining forces with their cousins Simon Knight and Lee Davies along with another family friend called Jon Maskell for the Daniel Speed campaign.
The group are aiming to raise £1,500 to put towards the five-year-old’s cause which will hopefully one day see him fulfil his dream to walk. Their original target was £500 but they quickly surpassed that and have so far raised about £850.
Daniel who was featured on the front page of the Bromsgrove Standard a few weeks ago needs the money to pay for the specialist equipment and treatment he needs, which is not paid for by the NHS.
When the group undertakes the challenge on August 22 and August 23, they will cover 22 miles in just 24 hours by climbing Ben Nevis, Scarfell Pike and Snowdon.
Rich said he had done the Three Peaks Challenge before and decided he wanted another go at it.
When he suggested it to the other guys they all jumped at the chance.
He added: “It will mean everything to us if we can reach our target and also a lot to Daniel and his family.
“Daniel is an inspiration to all the other little kids out there.
“Since having some of his treatment he seems to be getting a lot better so if we can help him reach his target hopefully he can one day start playing football with his friends.”
Laura, Daniel’s mum, said once they had received all the donations they had been told about they should be up to about £5,000 – meaning they were halfway to their total.
“I was gobsmacked when I heard they were doing the Three Peak Challenge – they are all old school friends of mine and my brother’s from when we lived in Kidderminster years ago.
“I was really shocked and pleased when I heard.
“We want to thank everybody for all their help and support – it is hard to get across how thankful we really are.”
Laura said Daniel had been improving each day and even got to take part in his school’s sports day on Tuesday (June 30) which he was very happy about.
“He has come on so much and we are so proud,” she added.
Laura said Daniel had also been doing well with his rebound therapy and hydro-therapy.
She added the staff at the Catshill One Stop shop were also fund-raising until July 15 by doing a raffle and sweet jar competition.
Visit the group’s page at www.justgiving.com/threepeaks4dan or go to www.justgiving.co.uk/danielswishtowalk to donate.
Visit www.facebook.com/danielswishtowalk for updates on how Daniel is doing.
