Aalijah Thompson walked a mile a day in September raising cash the charity who helped her sister Laiyla, who was born blind
A surprise awaited eight-year-old Aalijah Thompson when she completed her September-long activity challenge to raise more than £2,000 to help blind children like her sister Laiyla. Aalijah walked, ran and skipped a mile each day in September. Her fundraising efforts have raised £2,135 for the Royal Society for Blind Children, a charity which helps Laiyla, who was born blind.
Aalijah undertook her final mile around East Park on Thursday. Her stepmum, Farrah, asked her to travel the last part of the mile with a sleep mask over her eyes – for a little extra challenge. When Aalijah removed the mask, dozens of her family and friends were waiting for her to celebrate her achievement.
Proud step mum Farrah said: “It went brilliant, really well. She did the mile around East Park and I just joked with her at the end about her sleeping mask. She walked the last minute with a mask on and she didn’t know they were all there to surprise her.”
Over the month, Alaljah has never once asked if she could skip a day, undertaking the mile-a-day challenge on a step machine in the family home during bad weather. Her walks have taken her on plenty of dog walks with her dad, around Hull’s parks and even to Aldi and back. “She’s just loved it,” Farrah said. “She hasn’t stopped every single day. Even if we haven’t been able to get out the house, she’s done 1,000 steps. She’s been knackered a few times but she hasn’t even batted an eyelid. She says: ‘Come on family, we need to go!’.”
And proud big sister Laiyla has been there to cheer her on. Farrah said: “Laiyla is buzzing and she was excited yesterday. She has been doing some miles with her, when she has been involved she’s loved it. She was getting fussed over yesterday. She was loving it.”
Aalijah has already been asking her step mum what she can do next to raise more cash for the charity. “It won’t be the last thing she does. She’s eight now and she’s determined. She’s quite gutted it has ended to be fair. She’s absolutely enjoyed it and has been reading all the donation messages. It’s nice that so many people who we don’t know have donated, it means even more when it comes from strangers.”
The girls have an unbelievably strong bond and Farrah said Aalijah is “like a mother hen” with her siblings, Laiyla, Ryder and Kian. Laiyla, who was born blind after her optic nerve failed to develop, is an excellent storyteller and the girls love nothing more than doing each other’s make up and skincare. The £2,135 total will be donated to the Royal Society for Blind Children (RSBC).
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