£3,500 charity cash in memory of Tom

DEVASTATED relatives and former team-mates of talented teenage footballer Tom Bothamley have raised £3,500 for charity in his memory - with more still to come.

Tom (13), who played for Wickersley Youth Junior Football Club, died suddenly of a rare heart condition at home in July.

His death was the third tragedy to hit his mum Keira Hayden, who lost Tom’s dad Ryan suddenly at the age of 15.

Her son Joshua Donnelly also died on Christmas Day in 2007 aged just 23 months.

A fundraising campaign begun by neighbour Rhiannon Storrs to help pay for Tom’s funeral costs raised a total of £13,126.70.

Keira said £3,500 would be donated to charity SADS UK, which funds research into the sudden deaths.

She said: “We can’t thank everybody enough for the support we’ve had.

“It definitely helped us, not just financially but the messages we received.

“It’s only been seven weeks since Tom died and I’m still constantly getting messages which is really nice.”

The £3,500 will be topped up when Keira, Tom’s uncle Lewis Carder and grandmother Julie join his former team-mates on a sponsored walk from his beloved Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough stadium to the club’s away game at Huddersfield on Sunday, October 16.

Keira added: “It would have been Tom’s birthday on October 7 and the game was originally due to be on the Saturday but they’ve moved it to the Sunday with a 12.15pm kick-off, so we’ve got to set off at midnight.”