The magnificent people of Hartlepool have been hailed after fundraising donations reached their goal in just weeks

In a matter of weeks, the £6,000 needed to buy a special chair for Talia Foster was raised.

It will be a huge help for the 12-year-old who has been diagnosed with an 85 per cent curvature of her spine. It will make Talia’s life easier and support her spine which can ‘crumble in on itself’, said her mum Clair.

News of the fundraising victory was greeted with delighted by Talia’s family.

Clair said: “We are absolutely overwhelmed with people’s kindness and generosity, especially as we are know that times are hard for everybody at the minute.

“We want to thank every single person from the bottom of our hearts. It means so much.”

Special thanks went to the Poolie Time Exchange which gave great help in publicising the appeal for funds.

Clair hoped to buy a specialist multi-positional chair and standing frame which is designed to ‘easily set Talia in a sitting, standing, supine or transitional position, at a touch of a button on the remote control’.

The news that the total had been reached just weeks after the appeal launch late in September meant ‘Talia is just as special to them as she is to us’, said Clair.

Talia had hundreds of seizures a day when she was first born and doctors told her mum she may not survive infancy. In the years that followed, she has also tackled epilepsy, brain cysts and numerous chest problems.

In recent months, Talia, from the Brierton area, has come through a life-threatening struggle with sepsis which saw her in hospital for six days.

She was so poorly that doctors told her parents she could have died from organ failure if she had not received treatment when she did.

Others who deserve thanks for their support, said Talia’s family, included Gus Robinson Developments Ltd, Kelly Harwood, Lisa Kitching and Tracy Mcallister from the Park Inn, and everyone who contributed to the total.

In fact, so much money was raised that the extra can be put towards intensive private physio at the Physio Hub Hartlepool.

Stephen Picton, from the Poolie Time Exchange, said: “Poolie Time Exchange are overwhelmed by the response and how quick the money was raised.

“It shows that Hartlepool people and businesses alike can come together and help one of our own.”

All this had happened at a time of national uncertainty caused by the pandemic, unmployment, people’s jobs being at risk and lockdowns.

And yet, said Stephen, “these great people still give.

“Talia can now benefit from this chair and make her life so much easier. She is one amazing young girl, with fantastic friends and family that rallied around when needed.

“Hartlepool is one of most giving towns in the UK beyond doubt.”

The Hartlepool Mail has followed Talia’s story for years.

In the last few years, Talia has been registered blind, diagnosed with autism and dystonia, and suffered bronchitis.

But nothing deters Talia and she continues to be a cheery soul who always has a smile.

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