Zac Blyton from Bicester has taken on a big bouncy challenge for Oxford Hospitals Charity.

The seven year old and his trusty pogo stick, bounced and boinged for ten minutes on the hour, EVERY hour, throughout the day - raising over £6,000!

Zac first picked up a pogo stick in the middle of the Spring lockdown and he loved it. He quickly became a bit of an expert, bouncing every day and thrilled at his record of 490 consecutive bounces!

Then overnight things changed. From being a bundle of energy, he stopped eating, felt lethargic and had very painful stomach cramps.

A trip to the Horton General in May resulted in x-Rays, ultrasounds and a CT scan, before Zac was quickly taken to the John Radcliffe.  

His mum Jenni Blyton, explains: ‘We were transferred by ambulance in the middle of the night to the John Radcliffe. Soon he was in theatre for a biopsy and the insertion of a Hickman Line, or as he calls it his “wiggly”  - a tube in the chest that makes getting medicine in and blood out easier.’.

The biopsy results showed Zac had Non-Hodgkin’s Burkitt lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, in his bowel.

Jenni explains: ‘This is an aggressive cancer that needs to be treated in an aggressive way. So there are long stays in hospital undergoing a really tough treatment regime, with gallons of chemotherapy drugs, countless lumbar punctures, and scans, tests and the odd blood transfusion along the way.’

Zac adds: ‘Having chemo is boring and makes you feel rubbish. I had 37 doses of IV chemo during my treatment. The longest took 24 hours and I had to have 5 doses in succession. It took 120 hours. The shortest took 15 minutes.’

After four months, his treatment is finally over and Zac is now in remission.

Jenni told us: ‘It is so hard to watch your child going through so much, I would have done anything to swap places with him, but we were supported every step of the way by the amazing staff on the ward.

'Zac is still in the early days of remission and has five years of follow up appointments to come, we have everything crossed that he stays healthy.’

 ‘It’s left him with painful joints and he is tired, but it has not killed off his cheeky personality or stubbornness to see things through.’

Zac decided he wanted help other local children with cancer and hatched a plan to raise funds for Oxford Hospitals Charity. He wanted to support the Oxford Children’s Hospital and particularly children on Kamran’s Ward, which looks after young cancer patients, like him.

So on Saturday 21 November Zac bounced for ten minutes every daylight hour – and completed an incredible 7,800 boings throughout the day.

Best of all he smashed his pre-cancer record of 490 bounces non stop – managing an incredible 1331 continuous bounces!

And on top of that he has raised over £6,000 for the children’s hospital. What an incredible seven year old.

His mum said: ‘It’s been a really special day and I am so proud of Zac. Doing this challenge has really given him something to look forward to, and he has loved seeing the fundraising total grow. He’s  a bit tired now and looking forward to sausages and chips for tea.’

Nicole Silvester, from Oxford Hospitals Charity, said: ‘It’s been fantastic working with Zac and his family and finding out more about this determined little chap. How wonderful that in the midst of such a difficult time he was thinking of how he could help other children.

‘Superstars like Zac make such a difference to all our hospitals, helping Oxford Hospitals Charity to make the wards and departments more welcoming for patients of all ages, and funding high tech medical equipment. We are always so grateful to our amazing inspirational fundraisers, like young Zac.’

What a fantastic little chap.

To sponsor Zac visit:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/zacspogostick

And if you're inspired to to take on a challenge to support one of our special hospitals visit

www.justgiving.com/campaign/charitychallenge2020

We can’t thank Zac enough!

To find out more about how Oxford Hospitals Charity makes a difference across the wards and departments of your local hospitals, get in touch with the team via the methods below.  Tel: 01865 743 444 Email: [email protected]  MAKE A DONATION NOW     OTHER WAYS TO SUPPORT Do remember to tick the Gift Aid box if you are a UK taxpayer, as that will increase your donation by 25 percent.