A mile swim by a blind woman and fundraising by a three-year-old boy has helped to boost the funds of the My WiSH Charity.

East Anglian Daily Times: Pictured is Indy Ashby with his mother Kim and neonatal nurse on the ward Ann Walker.Pictured is Indy Ashby with his mother Kim and neonatal nurse on the ward Ann Walker. (Image: Archant)

Chrissie Davis took to the pool at the Haverhill Leisure Centre and after completing 64 lengths, the equivalent of a mile, she managed to collect a total of £739 which is being targeted at the endoscopy unit at the West Suffolk Hospital, in Bury St Edmunds.

The 31-year-old, who lives with her parents Maggie and Trevor, in Broadcroft Crescent, Haverhill, carried out the swim with her mother and said: “Even though I am blind I was determined to achieve my goal.”

Chrissie was born premature at 27-and-a-half weeks weighing just 1lb14 oz and was on so much oxygen that it killed her optic nerves causing her blindness.

She carried out the charity challenge on June 21 and said how the endoscopy department gave her Botox treatment on a spasming muscle in the right side of her abdomen.

“This causes my liver function to raise to extreme levels during flare ups.

“I have been a patient at the hospital for over six years and really wanted to give something back for all they’ve done for me.

“They have never given up on trying to find what was wrong with me after I started having acute sickness and diarrhoea. The injections relax the muscle and stop the pain.

“I was pleased with the swim which took me an hour and five minutes to complete and I raised more than expected.”

Meanwhile, when tiny Indy Ashby came into the world eight weeks prematurely it was a worrying and stressful time for his parents Kim and Joel.

But the tiny tot, who weighed in at 4lbs 8ozs at birth and looked “a sorry sight” according to his mother, has now grown into a sprightly three-year-old.

And he raised money for the neonatal ward at the hospital where he was treated.

A total of £100 came from family and friends after the couple got married at Gretna Green and then had a reception at Ely.

Indy carried out a collection and asked everyone for their money and just after celebrating his third birthday he and his mother handed the funds over to the ward.

Kim explained how she was rushed into the hospital from her home in Feltwell when she went into labour.

“We were just so overwhelmed by how amazing they were as we were not prepared for a premature baby. I felt so reassured having him at the West Suffolk and we can’t thank them enough as they made it so much easier and they were so good even when we got discharged,” said the 32-year-old who teaches at Millfield Primary School, in Littleport.