Tony Hudgell, 5, completes 10km walk on prosthetic legs

  • Published
Tony Hudgell
Image caption,

Tony Hudgell was inspired to take on the 10km challenge after watching Captain Sir Tom Moore

A five-year-old boy who had to have both legs amputated has completed his 10km walking challenge.

Tony Hudgell, from Kings Hill in Kent, needed the surgery because of abuse by his birth parents when he was a baby.

He set out to raise £500 for the Evelina London Children's Hospital by walking a combined 10km in June and has raised more than £1m.

Although he has now completed the distance he plans to keep walking daily until the end of the month.

Tony's adoptive father Mark Hudgell told the BBC: "As a family we are all incredibly proud at what Tony has achieved.

"The level of donation and the improvement in his walking over the past 26 days has blown away all expectations.

"The support and kind words we have received is phenomenal - from friends, the local community, throughout the UK and even worldwide."

Image source, Paula Hudgell
Image caption,

Paula Hudgell said Tony "overcomes every obstacle"

Tony set the target of walking 10km in a month after being inspired by Captain Sir Tom Moore.

He was "over the moon" when his fundraising for the hospital that saved his life topped £1m on Monday.

His adoptive mother Paula Hudgell said; "This was set up to improve his walking, which would give us an idea if prosthetics were a solution, which we've seen they are."

Mr Hudgell said his son would be celebrating his achievement with a small socially-distancing gathering of family, friends and hospital representatives.

He said the support and donations Tony had received had been "overwhelming".

This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip twitter post by Evelina London

Allow Twitter content?

This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of twitter post by Evelina London

Mr Hudgell said: "Tony will continue to improve his walking with the aid of crutches.

"However in the past two days, with the confidence he has gained from this experience, he has tried to stand up and take a step unaided - this will be his next challenge."

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, external, on Twitter, external, and on Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk.

Related internet links

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.