A little boy in Hereford overcoming major difficulties is holding out a sympathetic and helping hand to another one born with an even more debilitating condition.
Marley George is aged six and has cerebral palsy. Since going to the Peto Institute in Budapest for specialist treatment, he has made significant progress and has taken his first steps using sticks.
But the ongoing treatment costs money and when his mother, Vanessa, appealed for help through the Hereford Times, former Hereford United goalkeeper Tommy Hughes decided to take action.
He conferred with friends Nigel Jervis and Richard Bradshaw at their local, The Three Elms, and last April, they started their own fund-raising exercise.
This week, Tommy revealed the money now amounted to £27,000 and most of it will be presented to Marley at a special all stars night at the Three Elms tomorrow night (Friday).
The event is expected to be a money spinner - but little Marley does not want it to go into his appeal. He has asked for it instead to go to another fund-raising effort in the city to help severely handicapped Joel Rees.
Joel, who is five, suffers from a range of conditions which have not allowed him to develop. He has a small body and his brain has reached the stage of a nine-month-old baby. He is unable to walk, talk or eat but he loves splashing in water.
Belmont Golf Club and its professional, Mike Walsh, are planning a golfing tournament to try to raise £13,000 - the cost of sending Joel on a three-week trip to Miami for a therapeutic swim with the dolphins.
When Marley saw Joel's picture in the Hereford Times, he wanted to help and asked for the money raised tomorrow night to go to him.
Tommy Hughes said the incredible amount raised for Marley came from a golfing day, a race night, a reunion dinner for Hereford United players who won the Third Division championships in 1975-6 and a host of other events. It was remarkable how the public responded and the money kept coming in, he said.
He had been very moved by the story about Marley in the Hereford Times.
"There are so many of these children and someone has to take the bull by the horns and do something to help them,'' he said.
The event at the Three Elms tomorrow night will feature Danny Lee, of the famous Hereford United song, and his son, Andy, who will present an Elvis Presley and Tina Turner show.
The event starts at 8pm and at Marley's request, all the proceeds will go to the Joel Rees fund.
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