A FAMILY friend of a five-year-old boy who is stranded abroad after suffering serious head injuries in a sledging accident is hoping to raise £10,000 to bring him home.

Alex Thornton, 33, and a team of friends will be taking on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge on May 16 to raise money for Alek Malinka, who is in hospital in the Czech Republic after the accident, which happened while he was on holiday with his father, Peter.

Peter and Alek, of Thornton-le-Dale, were enjoying a seven-day holiday when the accident happened on February 20, which left Alek in a coma and needing life-saving surgery.

Unable to cover the cost of the flight back to the UK, Alex, of Pickering, has taken it upon himself to raise money for the family to enable Alek to be transferred back to hospital in the UK where his treatment will continue.

He said: “I have known Peter and his family for many years. When I heard about what had happened it hit me really hard and I felt I needed to do something to help.

“I have young children myself, so I can’t even imagine what they are going through. They are pretty much stuck out there, so I am trying to get as much support and raise as much money as I possibly can.”

Both father and son were injured in the accident and Peter suffered a fractured cheek bone, spending days in a separate hospital from his seriously injured son.

Alek’s mum, Ela, has since flown out with their three-year-old daughter, to join her husband and their son who they say has gradually started to get more movement in his head, arms and feet again.

“We still do not have any verbal contact with him and his consciousness of environment is very limited. He reacts to loud sudden sounds and our touch so we sing to him and very often massage him to get him relaxed. We are treating any small change in his behaviour as a good sign of the healing taking place,” said Peter.

“We are not losing hope as we know he is strong and he has shown his fighting spirit in recent weeks and with all our heart we are supporting our ‘Maly Boyovnik’ – Little Warrior, as he is called by Czech ICU nurses.”

Alex said: “I wanted to do something physical and this is a relatively local challenge most people have heard about. I am not particularly fit so this is also going to be a huge personal challenge. You will probably see us pounding the streets over the next few weeks trying to get into some kind of shape to ensure we finish the gruelling challenge.

“Parents and children from St Joseph’s, in Pickering, where Alek goes to school, have been fantastic, raising £440 already with more events planned over Easter.

“Elegance Salon in Pickering is also trying to raise funds by running a raffle this week with some exciting prizes donated by local businesses.”

The Cooperative in Pickering also has collection buckets.

The total has now exceeded £5,000. To donate, visit gofundme.com/pybl7g, email him alex.thornton@windcare.co.uk or phone 07825 994004.