The 11-year-old lad from Arundel is ready to take on one of Scotland's biggest mountains for charity.
11-year-old Oscar Maitland was diagnosed with Epilepsy when he was just 8 years old and has since worked ridiculously hard to spread awareness and money for charity Epilepsy Action.
Now, young Oscar is taking on an even bigger challenge.
On 20th August, Oscar, alongside his family and dog Mabel, will be tackling Ben Lomond, which is 3,200ft tall, all in aid of charity.
Speaking to our Broadcast Journalist, Hayley, Oscar spoke about what happened when he was diagnosed:
"One morning, I woke up feeling really horrible. I couldn’t move but I knew where I was. My Mum found me and tried to talk to me, but I couldn’t answer. After that I had a tonic clonic seizure that lasted more than 20 minutes. I don’t remember it, but I know that an ambulance came and the paramedic was able to stop the seizure and take me to hospital."
Oscar was soon diagnosed with Epilepsy, and during the COVID-19 lockdown period of 2020, started researching his condition, he added:
"Lots of people don’t understand epilepsy at all, and when they do they expect everyone’s seizures to be the same: to look like a ‘fit’. It’s important to me that people understand that everyone’s seizures look and feel different. Also that epilepsy can affect me in other ways, like my emotions or my worries about becoming more independent in the future."
Now, as well as spreading awareness, Oscar is setting himself the challenge to raise as much money as possible for Epilepsy UK.
He has previously raised £1000 for Epilepsy Action by organising a Purple Day 1k which all his class took part in and has already smashed his original target of £1500 for his mountain climb, however, he's now extended that target and would love to hit the £2000 mark.
Oscar's mum, Josie, has expressed how proud of her son she is, she said:
"We are incredibly proud of Oscar in how he manages the challenges of having epilepsy and how he has found a way to support this great charity. At times it has been scary realising Oscar would live with this condition and understanding it’s impact- having people to reach out to who are in the same boat has been a game changer.
Oscar always amazes us with his incredible inventions and ideas about how to help the environment or other people. We are grateful to everyone who has donated or sent encouragement- it is so important that people like Oscar grow up with hope that the world can be a better place and knowing people can be kind."
If you would like to donate to Oscar's cause or share it, you can do so via the Just Giving link below:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mountinclimb
Good Luck Oscar!
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