Community spirit gets Louie a trike

Louie Chadwick, aged six, was born with a rare form of epilepsy called Othara Syndrome, which can be life-limiting.
Also known as early infantile epileptic encephalopathy with burst-suppression, the condition is characterised by seizures which start in the first days of life.
Louie’s father, Leigh Chadwick, said that his son used to have thousands of seizures a day but these were now under control.
The family set about fundraising to buy Louie a mobility trike, which would enable him to have fun and play with his brother Oli and younger sister Evie. The trike will also strengthen his legs and help with his physiotherapy.
Mr Chadwick is the franchisee of Forresters Hair and Beauty Salon in Chapel Street, Thatcham, which hosted a fundraising pamper evening in June.
The family’s appeal was covered in the Newbury Weekly News, sparking a torrent of donations from wellwishers.
Mr Chadwick said that people had come in off the street to contribute after seeing the article in the paper and on newbury today.co.uk, raising around £3,200 towards his son’s new trike.
Mr Chadwick said: “There’s some lovely, nice, caring and genuine people out there. They said that they had taken their lives for granted as their kids can run around and play.
“The sheer generoristy is awesome and shows that people do care about what other people are going through. It’s nice that people have stopped and helped out. Another thing was that they actually knew where the money was going and that they would be buying something for Louie that they could see.”
Mr Chadwick said the trike would make the world of difference for his son as Louie would return from days out unable to move after being confined to a wheelchair for long periods.
“It’s given him a totally different form of exercise and he’s laughing his little head off,” he said.