Joy as boy's silence raises more than £12,000 to get his sister a voice

Dreams of improved communication with Eleanor Raleigh, 15, are one step closer to reality after her 11-year-old brother Lewis’s 24-hour sponsored silence raised more than his £12,000 target, a day before he fell quiet.

Young Lewis said not a single word between 8am Saturday and 8am on Sunday - all in aid of helping Eleanor who has an extremely rare genetic condition.

As reported last week, she was blind but regained her sight two years ago, and since then her parents Yvonne, 47, and Chris, 61, have hoped she will be able to use an eyesight-powered computer system to communicate.

Currently she can gesture yes and no, but cannot directly express herself beyond this.

Now thanks to Lewis’ efforts – supported by the rest of his family – a home trial version of the Eye-gaze communication system could be arriving this week.

Modest Lewis, who kept busy on his bike and woke up at 5am on Saturday so as not to sleep through his silence, told The News: ‘It was fun but challenging.’

The fundraising total of £12,755 raised by 199 people was boosted by £2,365 from a reader of The News who donated after reading the Raleigh family’s story last week. The extra cash will go towards keeping the system updated in years to come.

Posting on the fundraising page, the family said: ‘We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has donated or shared Eleanor's campaign, we are forever in your debt.’

Mum Yvonne, civil engineer, said: ‘We are extremely proud of Lewis, he stayed strong throughout the 24 hours, getting up at 5am on Sunday so he could make sure he was actively silent for the final three hours of his challenge rather than sleeping in and taking the easy option.

‘We are all very grateful for the donations and messages of support received.’

Eleanor has an extremely rare mutation of Incontinentia pigmenti. Her brain swelled within her first six days of life, damaging her brain and the way it sends messages to and from the body.

The teenager, who attends St Francis School and lives in Fareham, was diagnosed with quadriplegic cerebral palsy at 18 months, at the same time her blindness was identified.

Donate at gofundme.com/f/a-voice-for-eleanor

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this story on portsmouth.co.uk. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to portsmouth.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit our Subscription page now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.