Boy With Cerebral Palsy Raises £80,000 For Charity With 'Captain Tom' Marathon

A school boy who has cerebral palsy has completed a walking challenge inspired by Captain Tom Moore - raising over £80,000 ($99,000) for charity.

Tobias Weller, aged nine, is nicknamed 'Captain Tobias' in his hometown. He uses a walking frame like Captain Tom and also has autism.

Before lockdown started, he was only managing to walk around 50m per day, but he's now completed 26.2 miles (42km) in 70 days.

With people cheering him on, he did the challenge outside his home in Sheffield. His mum Ruth Garbutt told the BBC: "I'm bursting with pride for my little boy."

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He also absolutely smashed his initial £500 ($620) target, raising an incredible £80,000 which will go to Paces School, where Tobias is a student, and Sheffield Children's Hospital

Tobias has surprised himself, adding: "I can't believe I completed a marathon. It's just awesome.

"I love it when my neighbours clap and cheer for me and getting stronger and stronger every day is such a good feeling."

Ruth said he's not stopping now he's reached his goal and has set a new one of 50km.

She said: "He's tried so hard all the way through. He's really achieved a massive goal."

Police even got behind the whole thing, closing off the road in Sheffield where he lives. His neighbours hung up bunting and balloons for the last 750m of his fundraising effort.

He also had the full support of many sport greats, including heptathlon winner Jessica Ennis-Hill and pro-footballer Esme Morgan. They were among those to send video messages to Tobias to wish him luck.

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Esme Morgan said: "You've done an absolutely incredible job so far to walk as far as you have and I know you've been building up and building up each and every day, which is amazing."

Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill said: "I have been following your story and I just want to say I think you are absolutely incredible."

The money Tobias has raised will go towards The Children's Hospital Charity as it battles through Covid-19 with an emergency appeal. It will also help his school, Paces School, which is a non-maintained special school. Its ethos is around children being challenged to reach their full potential.

You can donate to Tobias' page here.

Amelia Ward

Amelia is a journalist at LADbible. After studying journalism at Liverpool John Moores and Salford Uni (don't ask), she went into PR and then the world of music. After a few years working on festivals and events, she went back to her roots. In her spare time, Amelia likes music, Liverpool FC, and spending good, quality time with her cat, Paul. You can contact Amelia at [email protected].

@ameliasward