Sutton family's fundraising drive to get disabled son his own room a step closer

Tommy Hibbert, four, currently sleeps in the living room of his family home due to the large amount of medical equipment he needs.

However, as he grows, his family are running out of space.

So back in 2019 Tracy Hibbert, 40, and her husband Jason, Tommy’s parents and full-time carers, launched Tommy Needs Space, a GoFundMe campaign which aims to raise £10,000 to create more room in their home.

Tracy said their mid-terrace council property on Hibbert Crescent could not easily be adapted, leading to the fundraising drive toward an extension so that Tommy can have his own bedroom and his own bathroom downstairs.

The council can’t cover the full cost of the extension so they need your help.

Tracy said: “The council should be starting the work within the next few months.

“But we still need funds for things like carpets, furnishings and redecorating which we need to do.”

Tommy, who was born via an emergency Caesarean section after a difficult labour, has breathing difficulties due to small airways and a form of dwarfism.

His medical equipment includes ventilators and a humidifier as well as a a specialist hospital bed.

Tracy said: “In terms of Tommy’s progress he developed so many skills during lockdown, from his breathing to his speech and feeding.

"He has started in nursery now and he has started to feed more orally.

“He has become more independent with his talking and he is only on his ventilator for four hours in a 24 hour period.

“So there has been a lot of milestones.

“He also needs an operation for a vertebra in his neck and we are waiting for a referral to Great Ormond Street Hospital as our doctor has not done this procedure before.”

If you would like to support Tommy and make a donation visit bit.ly/2Mji72U

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