Mum and son take on charity boxing match for Sheffield friend with life-threatening illness

Savannah Shelley, aged 28, will be making her boxing debut alongside her son on Friday, March 9 as part of a charity event to raise awareness of pulmonary fibrosis in light of her friend Lindsay Hammonds’ devastating diagnosis.

Six-year-old Jermiah Raja, Savannah's son, has been boxing at Riley’s gym on Upwell Street, Page Hall, for around a year where his mum-of-two found out about Pop Haywood’s boxing charity event. Savannah, from Swallownest, has since embarked on an eight-week training plan with Pop, who rents out the gym for two hours a week as part of the programme.

She said: “I’ve never boxed before but I've always been interested in doing it. I'm nervous, very nervous, but I'm very, very excited.

“When I first came in I probably couldn't even do three sit-ups, and now I'm doing circuit training and I’ve lost about a stone-and-a-half, so it's definitely helped me in my fitness and I feel a lot better mentally as well.

“It's as much about getting the awareness of the disease out there as it is raising money for charity. As much as I’m wanting to raise money for research, this is also to try and get people to register for the donor list to prolong people’s lives – there’s not enough donors out there.

“Lindsay's an absolute warrior, she's got two children herself and she does as best as she can to not let it stop her doing anything for her children.

Forty-year-old Lindsay, from Wincobank, was pregnant with her one-year-old son when she was diagnosed with the lung disease – the same illness that took the life of her mother at age 45, and her auntie at 48.

Pulmonary fibrosis is a condition in which the lungs become scarred and breathing becomes increasingly difficult. There is currently no cure for the condition and the average life expectancy is between three to five years.

Lindsay is now on multiple medications to try and slow the scarring of her lungs and has to have oxygen at all hours to help her breathe. She is hoping to be put on a waiting list for a lung transplant - but has been told she has tolose three stone in weight.

Lindsay, a single mum to two sons, aged one and five, said: “Some days you wake up and feel like you’ve been hit by a bus. I’m just hoping that there is hope for me and that I’m going to survive.

“It is very scary, I just try not to think about it, I just want to concentrate on my boys. It feels nice having people around you, like Savannah and support groups.

“My mum had been misdiagnosed with asthma for about two years until they realised what was actually wrong and they rang her telling her she was terminally ill over the phone. I was 22 when my mum died so I was old enough to look after myself, but I don’t want to be going anywhere with my babies, they’re too young.”

The fight will take place at Wadsley Bridge Working Men’s Club at 6.30pm on March 9. Tickets can be purchased for £15 from Savannah or Pop Haywood on Facebook.

Savannah and Jermiah have currently raised over half of their £1,000 goal. To donate to their fundraiser, please visit: https://gofund.me/4aa51dd3