THE cousin of a teenager who drowned in York’s River Foss has raised more than £1,700 for York Rescue Boat - by becoming a 'puppet' for 24 hours.
Hayleigh Lockwood Twose - whose 19-year-old cousin Sonny Ferry, of Rutland, died in the river during a city centre night out in April 2019 - let supporters plan her whole day from early on Sunday until early today.
She invited them to suggest challenges and said she would quote them a price for each one.
She ended up doing things such as singing in the rain while dressed as a unicorn, pegging as many pegs as possible to her face and miming to a famous ABBA scene with her mother.
Hayleigh said she had written a poem to her cousin after her achievement:
"This morning as I awoke and the sun came beaming through
I raised a smile as I squinted my eyes and I instantly thought of you
And today is one of the those days when I feel your warmth on my face
Your comfort, your presence your light and your beaming spectacular grace
I hope you’re up there laughing at all the crazy things that have been done
As they we all for you dear Sonny, and I hope it brought you even an ounce of fun
We will keep on campaigning to make those waters safe for people just like you
And I hope you know how much you were adored and how this is all because of you
As when that life boats sets it first sail and save its very first life
That my Sonny will be in your memory your legacy and for that we will always strive
Today I have woken up in an overwhelmed state of euphoria
That our gorgeous human beings can give in such hard up times they are truly inspiration warriors
It’s 11am the day that follows my yearly annual fundraiser
And I’m here to say we’ve smashed £1705 this couldn’t be any crazier!
You our sunshine, our only sunshine, you made us happy when skies were grey.
You’ll always know dear how much we loved you. Please don’t take our sunshine away."
The money will go to the Sunshine Campaign, which was launched by Sonny’s parents Kate and Stephen after his death in a bid to help prevent more such tragedies.
The couple are trying to raise £45,000 to buy a new state-of-the-art craft for York Rescue Boat, fitted with high tech features including3D Scanning Sonar and a new radio system, and the total raised before Hayleigh's puppet challenge came to £27,233.
Rescue boat spokeswoman Rachel Lacy said: " It's fantastic that people are finding ways of supporting charities in general during the lockdown, but this has to be the most inventive way of doing it I have seen so far!
"Raising funds and raising smiles, you can't watch the videos and at least smile, if not laugh outright, at them. Hayleigh (and her mum) have been amazing."
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