The sky was the limit for one woman from Walsall after she took on a daring wing-walk to raise over £1,400 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity where her close-friend’s two-year-old son is undergoing treatment for cancer.

 

Caroline Witek-Tenn had been fundraising with her colleagues at insurance broker Gallagher, in Brierley Hill, after the company chose the hospital as its charity of the year in support of former colleague Lisa, whose son Freddie had been diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer. Not quite content with a sponsored run, cake sale or raffle, adrenaline junkie Caroline, who had become good friends with Lisa, wanted to do something a bit more extreme in support of little Freddie, so took to the sky in an adventurous wing-walk.

 

When Freddie was just 12-months-old, his mum Lisa and dad Nick spotted blood in his urine. After visiting the GP, Freddie was eventually referred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital and an ultra-sound scan there found he had a stage three Wilms’ Tumour, a type of kidney cancer that usually only affects children. It was a heart-breaking diagnosis for the family.

 

After rounds of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and several operations, Freddie finished his treatment in April 2019, but his parents were devastated to learn that he had relapsed after doctors discovered a further two small tumours in his abdomen. Freddie instantly began another four rounds of more intensive chemotherapy, but after just two rounds, scans showed the tumours were not responding. Freddie had to undergo surgery to remove the tumours, followed by more chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant that used his own healthy blood stem cells to replace bad cells and bone marrow.

 

Freddie has just finished his treatment and is awaiting his final results, but throughout their journey, Lisa has been overwhelmed by the fantastic care her son has received at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and made sure to give Caroline and her colleague’s regular updates.

 

With Freddie’s story spurring her on, Caroline took to the skies over Gloucestershire to take on her wing-walk and raised over £700 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, with her employer, Gallagher, agreeing to match her fundraising to take her total beyond £1,400.

 

Caroline said: “As a parent, I know how devastated Lisa must have felt when she received the news that Freddie was so poorly. She’s always said that the hospital cares for her little boy better than she could ever wish for, so I wanted to do something spectacular to raise as much money as I could. The wing-walk was so exhilarating, I only wish it could have lasted longer. I’m just so glad I could take this on to help give back and say thank you.”

 

Miranda Williams, Public Fundraising Manager at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “Stories like Freddie’s often strike a chord among our families and we think Caroline must be the friend of the year for stepping up and taking on such a daring challenge in support of her best friend’s family. The money she raised will go towards helping us do more for the 90,000 sick kids we treat every single year, kids like young Freddie.”

 

If you’d like to fundraise for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity or donate, visit www.bch.org.uk, email [email protected] or call 0121 333 8506.