Businessman donates $34k to help 3-year-old girl get life-changing operation
A kind-hearded businessman wrote a generous cheque to fundraisers at a rugby match in Wales — and almost immediately changed a little girl's life.
Three-year-old Ellie Jury was born with Spastic Diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy that makes her walk on tiptoes.
At an international rugby match in Cardiff, Wales, family and friends collected loose change from attendees to help raise the £40,000 ($64,500 CAD) needed to send her to a clinic in Missouri where she could get a life-changing operation that involved cutting the rogue nerves from her spine. The amount would also cover physiotherapy costs.
"It is the only procedure that can provide an end to what Ellie has to endure," Ellie's mother, Lucy Fudge, told Wales Online last year. "Having this operation will also lead to Ellie having less complications as she gets older."
Her family feared it would take more than a year to raise the needed funds.
Conor McCloskey stopped by the fundraisers' charity bucket and asked them how short they were of their target. They told him they still needed £21,000 ($34,000 CAD).
He wrote a cheque on the spot for the entire amount to the Elliesgoody2feet Foundation.
"Me and my wife have two nine-month-old boys ourselves. We couldn't fathom the thought of our own boys being in the predicament Ellie is in," McCloskey, managing director of CM Utilities in Pyle, said of his donation. "No child should have to grow up with that and if me and my wife could do something to let her have a normal life that would be worthwhile. We are not heroes. We were in the position to donate the money to give Ellie a chance in life, so we did."
"It was the most fantastic act of generosity. I don't know what to say to him other than thanks - he has never wanted anything in return," Fudge told the Daily Mail.
Ellie's family immediately flew her to the U.S. for the operation. She now attends physiotherapy five times a week and should be able to walk by the time she starts school next week.
"She walks a lot further and most importantly of all she walks with flat feet now. So many people helped and I want to thank everyone," Fudge said.
"She calls her legs her new superlegs," Fudge told Wales Online. "And she asks me when I'm getting mine done!"
"She may not be able to do quite as much as her friends and she has a long way to go, but she will be able to do a lot more things," Fudge added. "I always remember two things the doctor said — she will be able to wear high heels now and will be able to have babies."