Fundraiser for Sittingbourne three-year-old who wasn’t expected to survive birth

A Sittingbourne family is holding a family fun day to help raise funds for their son who medics didn’t expect to survive his birth.

Jude Bedingfield, who will be three in September, was diagnosed with three conditions – Patau’s syndrome, Cri du chat syndrome and Pontocerebellar Hypoplasia while still in the womb.

His devastated parents, Heidi Knight, 29 and Ryan Bedingfield, 24, were referred to the palliative care team at the Evelina Hospital in London when the conditions were discovered when Heidi was 22 weeks pregnant. They were told that Jude was unlikely to survive birth and if he did, was likely to survive only hours or days.

Heidi, a beauty therapist, said: ‘Once Jude was born, there was still a lot of unknowns, but after some support at birth, he began to breathe on his own with minimal support. It was in the days after this, whilst still an inpatient in the Oliver Fisher Intensive Care Unit, that Jude started to do much better than expected, and as parents we knew we had a determined little boy. Fast forward almost three years, and Jude is thriving in comparison to those earlier expectations.’

Ryan, a maintenance worker added: ‘Our focus for fundraising is mainly for physiotherapy, which makes a huge difference to him but costs £85 per hour. Recently we were lucky enough to receive a £10,000 donation from an anonymous benefactor and were able to take him for a two-week intensive course which made a huge difference – it was this that made him ready to use a walker. So we’re really keen to raise enough funds to do something like that again, ideally even regularly.’

The couple, who also have a seven-month-old daughter Scarlett, are holding a family fun day on August 29 at the White Horse Pub in Sittingbourne from 3pm, where there will be children’s activities, a BBQ and a raffle including restaurant and travel vouchers from local villages and more. All profits from the BBQ will be donated to Jude’s fund.

The family is being supported by children’s charity Tree of Hope, which helps families raise money for children and young people like Jude for medical treatments and healthcare services not reasonably available to them through the NHS or social care. The charity provides fundraising guidance, campaign development, financial management, charity registration and emotional support from the Family Support team. Families like Jude’s benefit from having the support, tools and resources to fundraise effectively as well as access to gift aid, corporate support while also providing donor reassurance.

To donate to Jude’s fund visit: https://www.treeofhope.org.uk/get-involved/childrens-campaigns/just-jude

You can also follow him on Instagram: @just_jude_b