Moray sisters gear up for cycle to thank Dr Gray's and Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital
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AN ELGIN youngster who lives with a rare health condition is gearing up for a 26-mile bike ride to raise cash for local children's hospital wards.
Nine-year-old Lucy Stewart aims to complete the challenge in under six hours along with her sister Emma (15) in aid of the ARCHIE Foundation, which funds enhancements to the wards and family accommodation at Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital (RACH), and for Dr Gray's Hospital.
Lucy has spent prolonged spells in both hospitals, having been born with TOF-OA – Tracheo-Oesophageal Fistula (TOF) and Oesophageal Atresia (OA) – which are rare congenital conditions of the oesophagus (food pipe) and trachea (airway).
Corrective surgery has left Lucy with chronic lung damage and in December last year she lost the ability to swallow.
Lucy underwent another spell in hospital between last December to February this year, while her mum, Claire, stayed in parents' accommodation for three weeks.
Lucy has already raised £200 in a bid to see "pink and purple sparkly walls and nice, bright curtains" at the surgical ward at RACH – by making and selling Easter gift sets. However, the coronavirus pandemic halted a planned Easter fundraiser at the Eight Acres Hotel.
Along with Emma, the duo have also attracted donations totalling £280 so far ahead of their bike challenge through a JustGiving page.
The sisters are now building up stamina in practice runs to prepare for the challenge on Saturday, June 6, which they will undertake with RAF serviceman dad Barry.
They will set out from their home in Lossiemouth Road out past Fochabers and back to cover the miles.
The girls' brother, Callum (11), will act as support, along with Claire, carrying medicines and snacks.
Claire, a pupil support assistant at Elgin High School, said: "We had hoped to do the cycle this weekend but Lucy now has to have a medical procedure – but we'll all be fired up and ready to go the following weekend.
"Hopefully by then the COVID-19 restrictions will have eased a bit and we can, as Lucy suggested, stop at Fochabers for an ice-cream."
Lucy said: "The ARCHIE Foundation made these times so much easier for me and my family. They had play staff and different entertainers in the ward, gave my family accommodation so they could be close to me, helped cheer me up when I was sad, and decorated the wards in a happy way.
"That's why I am fundraising for them."
To donate to the girls' JustGiving appeal, click here.
