Family 'dumbfounded' by support for boy who got meningitis

Luke Mortimer's parents Christine and Adam, along with his older brother Harry, have been at the youngster's bedside

The family of a seven-year-old boy who lost his hands and legs to meningitis has said they are "dumbfounded" by the support as fundraising tops £100,000.

Rugby player Luke Mortimer of Skipton, North Yorkshire, had his hands and legs below the knee amputated after he fell ill before Christmas.

It prompted a huge fundraising drive with schools, sports clubs and other organisations raising money.

His father Adam said support had helped them through "tough times".

Mr Mortimer said: "We can't thank everyone personally but if we could we would.

"Everything from the donations to messages of support have helped us through the tougher times of our hospital stay."

The budding rugby player has started to use his arms

He added: "Luke gets a massive boost from the videos of personal messages from his friends, rugby and football clubs and the icing on the cake is the surprise videos from celebrities."

The youngster, who plays in the junior team at Skipton RFC, has been undergoing surgery at Sheffield Children's Hospital after contacting meningococcal meningitis.

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Club coach Brian Brocksom, a family friend, said Luke had had both arms and his right leg skin grafted and was starting to use his arms again.

He said: "He's been playing Connect 4 and he won too.

"You can see the spirit and determination in him as an individual to want to do things."

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Mr Brocksom said although the amount raised on the JustGiving page was "overwhelming" they wanted to raise more to help the family long-term.

"Adam is self-employed and he's not working at the minute.

"Obviously the mortgage and bills still need paying and going forward they'll need a lot of adaptations in the house."

He said a host of fundraising events had been planned including a match between a team from Skipton RFU and crew from the Royal Navy ship HMS Prince of Wales on 29 February.

Mr Brockson said this would be followed by a black tie dinner and auction hosted by the Navy at the Rendezvous Hotel in Skipton.