A DETERMINED dad who has raised thousands of pounds for the frontline workers who tried to save his son has said: “I believe Freddie is looking down and smiling.”
Andrew Farrow, 42, from Harwich, launched a fundraising campaign last month in aid of the paediatric intensive care unit at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridgeshire.
He initially set out to raise a modest £500 for the dedicated doctors and nurses who tried to help his son Freddie, five, after he suffered a head injury when a mirror fell on him in the Fenwick shop in Colchester.
Tragically, despite their best efforts, the youngster, who went to Gosbecks Primary School in Colchester, died as a result of his injures six days later on August 2 last year.
Mr Farrow is raising the money by growing his beard alongside First Essex colleagues Dave Biggs, Dave Johns, Steve Biscoe, Pete Lewis, and Alan Buchannan.
Amazingly, his charity drive has already generated nearly £3,000 in donations, a feat he believes his son would be proud of.
“I believe Freddie is looking down and smiling and saying, ‘Well done dad’,” said Mr Farrow.
“It is really nice to have raised so much already because it helps keep Freddie’s memory alive and it has restored my faith in humanity.
“There are so many nice people in Colchester who have shown support from the day of the incident and it has been really nice and quite emotional.
“Regarding my beard, it is more bushy than long if I am honest, but I have always been clean shaven, so it does get in the way of my life – but it is all for a good cause.”
Although thrilled with the money his campaign has already garnered, Mr Farrow, 42, is now hoping to generate as much cash as possible for the hospital.
He said: “If we can go back to the hospital with a huge cheque, then I will be over the moon because the day we went to the hospital nothing was too much trouble.
“If I can help another family in any way that goes through a traumatic time like I have, then my charity mission will be a success.
“I am really happy with the amount we have already got, but we are going to try and raise as much as we can between now and the day of the shave.”
Mr Farrow and his fellow beard-growers will trim their taches and beards on July 31 while the fundraising total will be handed to Addenbrooke's on August 14, which would have been Freddie’s seventh birthday.
To donate, visit tinyurl.com/2p8bd2v2.
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