Brave Toby's busathon raises funds for chilldren like him with rare condition

Six-year-old Toby Somers, from Duston, who is crazy about buses took part in a 12-hour ‘Busathon’ for CHAMPS Appeal, a charity supporting those affected by Hirschsprung’s Disease.

Toby devised a route and took his mum Lucy and dad Jason on an eleven-bus marathon trip criss-crossing the county travelling to Kettering, Milton Keynes, Rusden, Bedford and Daventry.

Setting his fundraising target at £500 Toby has been overwhelmed by support with his Justgiving page raising over £1,379 and counting.

Toby was born with Hirschsprung’s Disease, a life threatening, congenital condition where the nerve supply of an area of the bowel has not developed properly.

This causes a blockage of the large intestine and is rare - only occurring in around 1 in 5,000 children.

Having his first major surgery when he was just 6-weeks-old, Toby has to take lots of time off school.

His love of buses stems from his frequent hospital stays when he watched buses from his hospital window.

Now the bus-mad boy is raising money for the CHAMPS Appeal, run by a small group of volunteers.

Toby’s mum Lucy said: “CHAMPS has given us the opportunity to meet with other families with children just like Toby.

“They fundraise to organise events for families living with Hirschsprung’s Disease and also donate to research at Liverpool University.

“Since he was two Toby has been obsessed with buses and one of his favourite things to do is to spend hours riding round on buses.

“Toby wants to put his love of buses to good use by raising money for a charity very close to him.”

She added: “ He was in his element and kept saying I’m having so much fun.”

Go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/TobySomers