Portsmouth family is 'grateful' to man raising money for their daughter with cerebral palsy

Dan Huggins, 40, from Eastbourne, is going to be taking on the David Goggins 4x4x48 challenge in a bid to raise money for specialised physiotherapy for Portsmouth-based Malaya Rose, nine.

Malaya Rose was born with quad spastic diplegia cerebral palsy, which means she has very tight muscles in her legs, arms and core, and limited co-ordination.

Since 2019, Malaya’s family have already managed to raise £40,000 which will go towards selective dorsal rhizotomy and physiotherapy, which could help the nine-year-old with sitting, standing, playing and day-to-day activities that cannot currently be completed.

She is going to be having another hip operation later this month, and Dan is raising money that will go towards paying for her physiotherapy, which is not on the NHS and costs more than £100 per session.

Dan is hoping to be able to raise £5,200 which will cover physiotherapy for next year.

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Dan, a store manager, said: ‘I lost my father following a heart attack at the end of 2019, which was a wake-up call for me.

‘At the time I weighed 21.5 stone and was not healthy. I took up running and now run 30 to 40 miles a week, and have lost more than four stone.

‘I also want to help Malaya get the therapy she needs. Malaya is an inspiration to me – a shining star who never complains despite the huge hurdles she has already overcome. Her smile and laugh light up any room she goes into. I want to support Malaya because she has never once asked for it but is so deserving.’

As part of the challenge, Dan will have to run four miles every four hours for 48 hours and the challenge will start on March 3 at 8pm.

Malaya’s dad Buster, 33, from Portsmouth, who works for the Ministry of Defence said: ‘We’re very grateful to Dan for taking on this challenge for us to help raise money for Malaya’s therapy. The two of them have always got on well and, like all of us, he’s always been impressed by her ‘can do’ attitude. We will we cheering him on and will be very grateful to anyone who can sponsor him.’

To sponsor Dan go to treeofhope.org.uk/mighty-malaya-rose/