£8,500 raised for eight-year-old Sheffield Wednesday fan's “life changing” new wheelchair

Owen Haslam, aged eight, has cerebral palsy and is wheelchair bound.

His parents set up a Go Fund Me campaign to give their football and boxing loving son more freedom in life with a new £8,000 custom-made wheelchair – and the target was smashed in just three weeks, with £8,500 raised altogether.

The lightweight new chair will give Owen more control and independence to move around freely, as his current NHS stock chair often requires his parents Mark Haslam and Gillian Grayson to help him.

Additionally, his family home is being renovated to keep up with Owen’s needs.

His father, Mark Haslam, 38, said: “We’re having some adaptions made at home. We’re having a bedroom and a bathroom built downstairs, which will make life a bit easier for him.

“Because the chair he’s getting is quite expensive, my sister suggested that we start a Go Fund Me campaign.”

To the parents’ surprise, the fundraising goal was reached much faster than anticipated.

“I mean we were monitoring each GoFundMe by the hour. And we can’t say thank you enough to everybody. Especially Penistone Church FC, as they helped a lot with fundraising.

“We are just a bit overwhelmed with everybody’s donations, and they will really change Owen’ life,” said steelworker Mr Haslam.

Owen’s mother, Gillian Grayson, 44, added: “Well, we can’t believe it really, to be honest.

“We didn’t expect it to be as quick as this.

“Everybody’s been so generous, especially when this is quite an odd time into Christmas as well for people financially. We are just over the moon about it.”

While the family doesn’t have an arrival date for Owen’s new wheelchair yet, the adjustments in their home are progressing quickly, as brickwork and the roof are already completed and his new bedroom plus bathroom are taking shape.

His grateful parents want to purchase some other things to make their son’s life easier with the extra £500 left over after the wheelchair has been bought.

His mother, who works as an office manager, said: “He needs a couple of things for the new bathroom, for example a shower seat.

“Currently, he only has a toilet seat that we are using in the shower, but we’d rather have a separate one for him.”