Anonymous donor gives £18k to fund for boy's home

An anonymous donor has given £18,000 to a fundraiser for home adaptations for a four-year-old boy.

Kit has epilepsy, motor-dysfunction and is partially blind after a two hour seizure when he was 18 months old damaged his brain.

His family, from Tunbridge Wells in Kent, said they had been quoted £135,000 to adapt their garage into a ground-floor bedroom and bathroom with wheelchair access, and have so far raised more than £30,000.

Kit's mother, Katherine Slessor-Pavely, told BBC South East they had "no idea who this generous benefactor is" but it had "catapulted" their fundraising.

The family's total goal is to fundraise £45,000 to put towards the rebuild, which they said would include a single-storey extension to "future-proof" his room, as well as a specialist bath which costs £16,000.

They will also receive a Disabled Facilities Grant from the government - which provides funding for those with disabilities who need to adapt their home - but it is capped at £30,000.

Kit's family said he began to have seizures linked to common illnesses such as tonsillitis as a toddler.

A two-hour seizure in 2021 led to encephalitis, with Kit placed in an induced coma for three weeks.

Ms Slessor-Pavely said: "We were told he wasn't going to survive, we were told he was going to be in a vegetative state, but he... surprised everybody."

The primary school teacher said Kit could walk and eats "three meals a day very happily", despite doctors initially believing he would not be able to eat unaided.

"The only setbacks [he has] in his life we're trying to overcome, which is why we're trying to get this build because it would make life so much easier for him, so much safer and easier for our entire family."