Rowlands Castle family start fundraising to send Gary to Disneyland

Gary’s mum Julie Fisher and his sister Victoria Thorpe have launched the fundraising bid to send Gary to Disneyland.

The 24-year-old, who grew up in Portsmouth, has spent most of his life in hospital after having pneumonia seven times as well as other heath problems which means he has the mental age of a four to seven-year-old.

But the massive Disney fan does not let his conditions stop him from enjoying life and he can often be seen singing along to his favourite band UB40 – even through the oxygen mask he has to wear most of the day.

Due to his illnesses, which include Down’s syndrome and type 2 lung failure, Gary’s family are unsure how long he has left.

So they want to give him the holiday of a lifetime and either go to Disneyland in Paris or on a Disney cruise.

Victoria, from Rowlands Castle, is one of Gary’s carers. She also set up the fundraising page.

The 36-year-old said: ‘Lately, Gary has been so poorly and at any single time his health can get worse.

‘Seeing him in hospital but remaining so positive made me want to do something for him. I couldn’t just sit around being upset about what might happen to him.

‘I decided to start the fundraising pages and organising events for us to raise money. Gary loves Toy Story so it would be great for him to go to Disneyland, see the characters and go on the Toy Story-themed ride.

‘Even the cruise is amazing because is has a room themed like Andy’s from Toy Story, he would love it.’

The family want to raise around £6,000 as insurance to cover the holiday is expensive for Gary.

So far, thanks to the help of generous donations around £3,700 has been raised. More than half of the donations came from managing director of the Arun Estate, run by Cubitt and West, David Lench.

Mum Julie said: ‘When Gary got pneumonia aged 21, he had to learn to walk again.

‘Due to needing oxygen through the tanks, he cannot go on a plane so we either want to catch the Eurostar to Paris or go on a Disney cruise. We are so grateful to everyone who has donated to make this happen.’

To make a donation visit gofundme.com/garys-disney-dream.