A family from Witherley, Leicestershire has raised over £2,200 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, after rallying their local community to support two pub fundraisers they held as a thank you to the hospital for the care their son, Liam, has received since he was seven-years-old.  

One day at school, Liam Chase started experiencing pins and needles down his left side, numbness in his face and facial drooping. Liam was sent home with a message to mum, Faye, to take him to his local hospital immediately.  

By the time Liam reached hospital, he felt fine, and initial tests didn’t pick up anything sinister. Just as doctors were about to give Liam the all clear however, he revealed that this had happened a few times before. This alerted the medical team to run a scan where they found what appeared to be a mass. With no time to process what was happening, Liam and Faye were transferred to Birmingham Childrens Hospital where they got the devastating confirmation that Liam has a benign tumour and needed immediate surgery.  

Following his surgery, Liam spent a long five weeks at the Children’s Hospital on Ward 10.   

Liam is now 15 and has been treated at the hospital for eight years, undergoing a further two brain surgeries. Although he is doing extremely well, Liam has been left with weakness in his left side and still has regular MRIs to check there’s no change. He hasn’t let that stop him though and is even signed to the Aston Villa disability football team, despite being a Leicester City fan!  

Despite the last few years being a scary and uncertain time for the family, Faye has been so impressed with the care Liam has experienced at the hospital. She decided now was the time to give something back. 

Faye and family decided to run two fundraising events at two local pubs - the Union Inn, in Hinckley, and The Old Swan in Atherstone. Both events included a raffle and tombola with superb prizes, such as Snowdome vouchers, vouchers to local restaurants and Cadbury World tickets. Family and friends, plus pub patrons were there to show their support - one even braved a sponsored back and chest wax! As well as the wonderful amount raised for the hospital, Faye and Liam also took some gifts and games to the children of Ward 10 as an extra special thank you.  

Faye said: “I am so grateful to the staff of Birmingham Children’s for looking after Liam and making it such a safe and comforting experience, despite the scary nature of Liam’s diagnosis. As Liam is now 15, he will soon transition to adult care, and we will also be sad to leave the hospital and all the friends he’s made, but we are determined to keep up the fundraising, so will be back in future years to say hello.”  

 Miranda William’s, head of public fundraising at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “Liam has been treated at our hospital for many years now, and the wonderful work that happens here has inspired his mum Faye to fundraise for us, which is so heart-warming. Despite Liam transitioning to adult care in the next year, he’ll always remain a part of the Birmingham Children’s Hospital family and we’re so thankful for the family’s fundraising.”