Proud Manea grandparents cheer on Wilber as he follows in Captain Tom's footsteps
A six-year-old boy with links to Fenland and to the legendary Captain Tom Moore is attempting to walk 10 miles in 10 days to raise cash for the NHS.
Wilberforce Turpin, known as Wilber, who is the grandson of Manea couple Keith and Ursula Berry, has a rare chromosome abnormality that has a major impact on his life, he is the size of a three to four-year-old and has the mental age of a toddler.
His disability means walking does not come easy for Wilber, who relies on a walking frame to keep him upright. But his mum Elizabeth Turpin, who lives in Chatham, Kent, said he is a happy and determined little boy, who loves being out and about.
She explained the family came up with the idea of combining Wilber's daily lockdown walk along the street with raising funds for the NHS after watching the Herculean efforts of Captain Tom and his walk, which has raised nearly £28 million.
Coincidently Wilber's grandad Keith knew Captain Tom as he was the managing director of March Concrete Products Ltd in the 1980s where Keith worked for 21 years.
Elizabeth, who is married to Rupert and has three older children, Zebedee, 15, Barnabas, 13 and 10-year-old Alexa, said: "The NHS has been amazing to Wilber in his six years. He has regular hospital appointments and is under a number of specialists who monitor his condition.
"He loves people and is very sociable, so lockdown has been pretty tough for him, because he can't understand why he can't go to school and be with his friends. His daily walk is a highlight for him, and to be honest we were quite amazed when we realised just how far he was walking, as it isn't easy for him along the uneven footpaths.
"But when we calculated it, we discovered he was walking half a mile every evening. So we thought why not increase this to twice a day and walk mile. So on Monday (20) he began his twice daily walks to complete his first mile.
"We decided he could do 10 miles in 10 days and set a target of £500, but we raised double that amount almost immediately, so we increased the Justgiving total to £1,000 and we past that within just two days. Now the target is £2,000 and if he can reach that, it would be incredible.
"His brothers and sister have been out supporting him and cheering him on and he has loved doing it. We are truly grateful for everything the NHS has done for Wilber and with everything that is going on at the moment, we thought now is a good time to do something to say thank-you."
Ursula and Keith, who are self-isolating at their village home, have been watching Wilber's progress and keeping in touch with their daughter and grandchildren through social media.
She said: "What Captain Tom has achieved is amazing, it is strange to think that we have a link to him here in Manea and that he is the inspiration for Wilber's fundraising. We are very proud of what Wilber is doing, he is a very special little boy."
To donate visit Wilber's Justgiving page here.
You can follow Wilber's story on Facebook at Wilber's Way
Read more: Hero Captain Tom Moore once lived and worked in Fenland
