Tony is “Back on track”.

This year SWRD were contacted by “Back on track” an injured veteran charity, in order to help 6 year old Tony Hudgell, a little boy who tragically lost his legs as a consequence of abuse he suffered when he was just a few months old.

At five weeks old, Tony had all his limbs broken, dislocations of his ankle, toes, thumbs and multiple other fractures and was left without medical attention for 10 days. He developed sepsis, toxic shock, multiple organ failure, an accumulated mass on the brain and was placed on life support. It was a miracle he survived.

Five years later, after the truly heroic efforts of his adoptive parents Mark and Paula Hudgell and the NHS,  Tony was challenging himself to walk 10km for charity in a month. This, mirroring the walks of “Captain Tom” that caught he attention of the media. The heroic five year old little boy achieved the daunting feat with five days to spare, but continued to push himself by walking everyday for the remainder of that month. By the end of June Tony had raised over £1m for the London children’s hospital.

Adding to this, more recently Tony has become mascot to “Back on track”, a charity that uses karting to help rehabilitate, treat, settle and support injured veterans. With this in mind the “Karting with heroes – Small but mighty” event was formed. A fund raising event which celebrates Tony’s love of racing, with a range of teams participating, with Injured Vets (plus Tony), Celebrities, Stuntmen and the Armed Forces all being represented. You can read more about this event here.

Having heard Tony’s story and having previously worked with the “Back on track” charity, SWRD were keen to help out in any way we could to reward Tony for the strength, determination, bravery and kindness he has demonstrated in his short life.

Together with “Back on track”, SWRD have the pleasure of giving Tony his very first kart. A Wright Minotaur Bambino kart, modified especially for him to operate with his hands so he can go out to race with the rest of the “back on track” guys.

It is a small gesture for someone that deserves so much more, but we at SWRD hope it brings a little more fun, freedom and happiness to Tony in the future.