Six-year-old boy who raised more than £1.5 million for a children’s hospital raises another £76K

By Toby Porter

A six-year-old who raised more than £1.5m last year for Evelina London Children’s Hospital, has raised another £76,000 by taking part in the Captain Tom 100 challenge.

Tony Hudgell set out to walk 100 steps on his prosthetic legs without the aid of his crutches – he smashed his target and walked more than

500 steps.

Tony has been cared for by Evelina London since he was a baby, and captured the hearts of the nation to raise £1.5m by walking 10 kilometres throughout June 2020.

Tony’s mum Paula said: “We’re so proud of Tony for once again beating the odds and taking more than 500 steps without his crutches.

“He’s such a determined little boy so we had no doubt he would be able to do this.

“It means so much more that he’s been able to do it while celebrating the life of Captain Tom who inspired him to take on his first walking challenge.”

Following the death of Captain Sir Tom Moore, his family invited people to take part in the Captain Tom 100 by undertaking a charity fundraising challenge based around the number 100, between Friday 30 April and Monday 3 May.

Paula, 52, said: “Since his fundraising last year, Tony’s confidence has improved so much. He’s always been a lovely, cheeky little boy, but now he’s even more outgoing and self-assured.”

In October last year, Tony received some specially designed prosthetic legs from Guy’s and St Thomas’ prosthetics service, who have supported Tony since he was two years old. The new legs make Tony 5cm taller and are designed to improve his mobility.

 

Tony’s prosthetist Andreia Paulo said: “We’re all so pleased to see that Tony has done so well with his new challenge.

“He is such an inspiration and the whole team here are all so proud of him.

“There’s no stopping him, so we can’t wait to see what he’s going to do next.”

In June 2020, Tony captured hearts across the world when he set out to raise £500 by walking 10 kilometres throughout the month on his prosthetic legs.

With a huge outpouring of support, he raised more than £1.5 million for Evelina London.

You can still donate to Tony’s Captain Tom 100 fundraising by visiting: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tonyhudgell-100stepsunaided-captainsirtom100challenge