Cambuslang rugby boss to tackle 30-mile run in aid of East Kilbride youngster with spina bifida
dailyrecord.co.ukCambuslang Rugby Club coach Gavin Blackburn will undertake a 30-mile run to raise money and try to make life easier for an East Kilbride girl with spina bifida.It is hoped that the challenge, which will see Blackburn run from Ayr to East Kilbride on Saturday, March 24, will raise enough money will be raised to allow Amber McRae’s parents to convert the bottom of their house in East Kilbride, creating a wetroom and bedroom for her.Blackburn undertook a 24-hour walk challenge in the summer, raising £3000, and hopes to raise a £5000 total this time through a JustGiving page he has set up.He is also arranging a charity game between a Cambuslang XV and an invitation squad at Coates Park on Saturday, May 11, at 3pm.Blackburn said: “Amber is only five, but has had over 20 operations, and recently underwent an operation called posterior vault distraction to relieve the pressure on her brain.“My partner Lisa is really good friends with her mum, so that’s how we know her, and I had seen photographs of her and she told me about the operations she had gone through.“I wanted to do something to raise awareness, and I knew they were going to be redeveloping the house for her, to change the bottom of the house so she has a wetroom and a bedroom downstairs.“The major operation for Amber, in layman’s terms, meant that they had to expand her skull to relieve the pressure on her brain.“I think it’s 25 surgeries she has had in five years.“It’s amazing.
When you see her in photos or videos, she’s neither up nor down, she takes it in her stride, but she is a special wee girl.”Blackburn says donations from businesses will swell the JustGiving total in the lead-up to the event, and is undergoing some rigorous training.He said: “I’m just trying
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