A £60,000 fundraising drive for life-changing surgery for a Dundee toddler has hit the half-way mark after only four months.
Jemma and Ben Bosch are aiming to raise the cash to fund Italian surgery for one-year-old Oliver, who doctors found had no auditory or balance nerves.
Now, a £2,000 donation from Tayforth Univerity’s Officer Training Corps has taken the appeal over the £30,000 mark.
She said: ”We have had a lot of people doing things that have brought in £10 and £20 and they have all added up as well.
”We had a firewalk at the weekend and that raised just under £4,000.
”My husband did a fly-fishing competition and that raised £3,000, but there have also been things like the bag packing and quiz nights.”
Unsuitable for a cochlear implant, Oliver was confirmed as suffering from Goldenhar syndrome, a condition affecting one in 500,000.
The founder of the auditory brain stem implant treatment is based at the University of Verona Hospital and has a 96% success rate.
Jemma said: ”We never dreamed it would be like this. We are going to Italy in February and we thought we might have had £10,000 raised by then. There was no way we thought we would hit the £30,000 mark by this time.
”People from here are so amazing. Even with money the way it is at the moment, with people losing their jobs, we have had people donating £5 and saying ”sorry it’s not more, but my husband’s just been made redundant.”
Jemma said the fundraising events have turned Oliver into a local celebrity.
She said: ”We have had people recognising him in the shops in Lochee, so I think everybody knows who he is.”
He added: ”I think it’s just because he is such a happy wee soul and, also, a lot of older people can sympathise because they have had hearing loss.”
Oliver’s surgery is scheduled for February 25 and the family will have to stay in Italy for four to six weeks following the procedure.
Jemma said: ”We are off to Italy next week to meet the surgeon for a few days.
”That is the pre-op so he can meet him and see if there’s any more checks that need done.
”When we come back we have family visiting from South Africa and they have been fundraising across there, too.”
Captain David Mulholland, adjutant of Tayforth University’s Officer Training Corps, which made the latest £2,000 donation, said: ”We always adopt a local charity every year to support and we read about Jemma’s appeal. We had a meeting and decided to support Oliver.
”We had a race night, which is where this money has come from.
”Dundee United donated a couple of boardroom hospitality passes, which we auctioned and they raised over £500.
”The students were delighted to be able to help somebody that needs the operation and because it costs so much to send him overseas.”