Ten-year-old keen rugby player Corey Williams from Ton Pentre, Rhondda
Ten-year-old Corey provides patients with ipads to stay in touch with their relatives during COVID19
Ten-year-old keen rugby player Corey Williams from Ton Pentre, Rhondda has set himself some pretty tough challenges in a bid to raise money for ipads, to enable patients to speak to their relatives while visiting is restricted during Covid19.
Corey, whose dad Mathew owns the Crispy Cod restaurant in Ton Pentre, was helping his dad deliver meals when he asked what he could do to help support the local community.
Mathew’s mother Karen sadly passed away a few weeks after Corey was born – Corey, who had heard so many lovely stories about his Grandma, previously a staff nurse in Y Bwthyn, decided he wanted to raise money for the NHS and donate to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital and his local hospital, Ysbyty Cwm Cynon in honour of his Grandma. Corey set up a gofundme page with the aim of raising £500.
Corey set himself challenges involving the three Rhondda Mountains – Penrhys, Rhigos and the Bwlch. The first challenge was to run the near 2 miles up Penrhys Hill, carrying a sack of potatoes. The second was to ride his bike up the Bwlch, and the third was to run the Rhigos from Hirwaun to Treherbert.
Corey started the first, and ran the steep 2 mile hill up Penrhys, nearing the top Matthew recorded Corey saying: “If I’ve learnt one thing, anything is achievable and anything is possible in your life”.
After completing the second, then then third, Mathew said: “I thought he was going to give up when he was running the Rhigos, but he didn’t. He just kept going. He’s like a machine, he is so determined in everything that he does, I am very proud of him.
“The messages of support Corey has received from well-known rugby stars and the community has been overwhelming and Corey has now raised more than £4,000 which he has used to purchase ipads so that patients who are admitted with Covid19 can facetime and speak to their relatives and not feel so alone at this time.”
Senior nurse and out-patients manager Julie West said: “What an inspirational young boy. It’s a very difficult time for patients being in hospital at the moment, not only are they unwell, but due to visiting restrictions they are not allowed to see their loved ones. The fact that Corey has set himself a challenge as huge as this to raise money for the community is amazing. We are so grateful to him. His family must be very proud, as would his grandma. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
View more of Corey’s story here: https://video.buffer.com/v/5eb80d0a0bf01471ca2e299c
