Beneficiaries

Much better for Youngster

Little Dylan Workman is sleeping tight, thanks to a special new bed and a little help from the Chronicle and Craig Bellamy.

Dylan, four, has a rare and incurable form of epilepsy which means he can not sit up without support and can not walk or talk.

He is prone to violent fits and has spent much of his short lifein Newcastle General Hospital. But now the lad from Longbenton is sleeping through the nightbecause he has hi tech bed designed especially for him. Money for the bed came from the Evening Chronicle’s Sunshine Fund and the Newcastle striker Craig Bellamy.

England star Peter Beardsley got in touch with Dylan’s parents Simon, 28, and Karen, 32, after reading about their efforts to raise cash for the bed in the Chronicle. He put them in touch with Bellamy, currently on loan to Celtic, who instantly wrote a cheque for £3,000. Bellamy also hit the headlines in 2001 when he signed a shirt to teenager Indie Singh before he died from kidney problems at 14. “We are very grateful to the Sunshine Fund and to Craig and Peter and to the people who’ve helped us with the fundraising,” Simon explained. “I spoke to Craig on the phone and Peter came out to see us when they measured Dylan up for the bed. “He sleeps through the whole night now, whereas before he would slip down into the gap between the rail and the mattress.

“Before he used to dread going to bed but now he cries because he wants to go to bed.” The family, who used to live on Cardinal Close, have now moved to a new home on Lancaster Avenue, which has been fully adapted for Dylan’s needs. Dylan, who has two sisters, Hannah, 10 and Rhiannan, three, and a brother, Jordan, seven, is a pupil at Achleigh Primary School, on North Shields. There are only 12 other cases like Dylan’s in the world and Simon and Karen are hoping to take him to Paris to meet a leading paediatrician who is an expect in the condition. However, in spite of Dylan’s disabilities, Simon said his son remains cheerful and just gets on with life. Simon said: “He enjoys school and he really likes going in the hydrotherapy pool there. “The girls love him and are always playing with him and he’s a very happy little chappie. “He went through a bad spell last year and was in hospital a lot, but he’s not been in for 11 months now and is doing really well.”


Back