When Hays Travel personal travel consultant Lisa Read heard about a local mum’s bid to raise funds for her children before she dies, she felt compelled to act.
Single mum Sam Kyme, 34, was diagnosed with aggressive motor neurone disease in April. She is in the final stages of the disease and could die any day.
Her dying wish is to raise enough money to cover legal and guardianship fees to ensure her boys Joey, 12, and Harry, eight, can live with her sister Pippa and her family in Australia. The initial target was £15,000; this has now reached more than £41,000.
After reading about the story a month ago, Lisa decided to try to raise enough to cover the cost of the boys’ flights to Australia.
She asked other personal travel consultants and head office staff at Hays Travel to donate to the cause.
Lisa, who is based in Banbury, said: “I felt I had to do something. I really wanted to help them and make them aware that as a company we care. They had contacted a lot of big airlines and were struggling to get help.
“We put a message on Facebook and I was blown away by the response. Lots of personal travel consultants donated and head office held a raffle.”
Within four weeks Hays Travel had raised £2,150, and Lisa has pledged to book the boys’ flight tickets when the time comes.
Pippa, who has been in the UK with her daughter to care for Sam for the past six months, said the family was overwhelmed by the support received. “With people like Lisa raising money to pay for the boys’ flights, it has given Sam peace of mind,” she said.
Sam, who can communicate only by blinking or smiling, had one last wish: to have all her family with her for her last Christmas.
This has now come true, with Pippa’s husband and her other three children flying to the UK from Sydney to be with her.
Hays Travel has since confirmed Sam passed away on Thursday December 21.