Fundraiser for child not expected to survive birth

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

Jude Bedingfield, who will be three in September, was diagnosed before birth with Partial trisomy 13, Cri du chat syndrome and Pontocerebellar Hypoplasia, and his parents were told he was unlikely to survive delivery or live for more than a few days.

Despite those expectations, his mother Heidi Knight said the "determined little boy" had exceeded what doctors predicted and continued to make progress.

"He is thriving in comparison to those earlier expectations," she said.

Knight and Jude's father Ryan Bedingfield are holding a family fun day at the White Horse pub in Sittingbourne on 29 August, with all profits being donated to his fund.

The event is being supported by children's charity Tree of Hope, which helps families fund specialist care and treatment.

Bedingfield said the family's main fundraising focus was physiotherapy, which costs about £100 an hour.

He said a previous anonymous donation of £10,000 enabled Jude to attend a two-week intensive physiotherapy course.

"The first course made a huge difference to his movement," he said.

"We're really keen to raise enough funds to do something like that again, ideally even regularly."

The family fun day starts at 15:00 BST and all profits will go towards supporting Jude's ongoing therapy.

Tree of Hope chief executive Becky Andrew said: "We wish Jude and his family all the best with their fundraising activities."

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