Heartfelt fundraiser to help Foulden mum-of-six Sarah Fletcher care for disabled son Toby

A fundraiser has been launched in a heartfelt bid to help a grieving widow support her disabled son.

Sarah Fletcher, 45, a mother-of-six who lives in Foulden, lost her husband Shaun to suicide on Christmas Eve.

She has been left caring for three of her children at home - and one of them, 15-year-old Toby, is receiving palliative care amid a battle with quadriplegic cerebral palsy.

Before Shaun’s death, he was working on an extension to their family home to provide Toby with a downstairs bedroom and wetroom.

However, this has been left only partially completed with a lot of work still to do - and now, a GoFundMe page has been launched in an attempt to try and cover the cost.

So far, more than £2,300 has been raised of a £2,500 target.

The Band of Builders charity has also signalled its intention to help Sarah, while Bury St Edmunds-based ZSP Roofing has already offered to finish off work to her home’s roof free of charge.

“I am really grateful,” Sarah told the Lynn News.

“It has been very difficult. We didn’t have a Christmas, and we are just trying to move forward the best we can, supporting the children.”

Toby is tube-fed, and Sarah has to exert a lot of energy to take care of him - particularly when carrying him upstairs to his current bedroom.

Clare McAnulty, a friend of Sarah who lives in Gooderstone, believes the new wetroom would make a world of difference.

“I know how hard it is having a child with severe disabilities, but Sarah’s situation is one hundred times worse than mine,” she said.

“She just needs this finished so she can spend time with Toby - whatever time he has left.

“How she is managing to carry him up and down the stairs I don’t know.

“As a mum, anyone could put themselves in those circumstances and think, ‘Jesus’.”

Shane Byrne, a best friend of Shaun’s, has organised the GoFundMe appeal, which can be accessed at https://gofund.me/4ff204e9

It says that completing the bedroom and wetroom will “completely change (Toby’s) quality of life and greatly help his family”.

“I thank you in advance for any help you can afford for this family at such a devastating time,” it adds.

“It would be amazing, because at the moment I am having to carry him up and down the stairs, which is dangerous,” Sarah said.

“It has been horrendous.”

For confidential support on an emotional issue, call Samaritans on 116 123 at any time.

If you want to talk to someone confidentially, go to: www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/