A CHATTY 10-year-old let fund-raising do the talking when she completed a two-hour silence as part of a challenge to collect cash for the NHS.
Susanne Hayward’s daughter, Anna, has publicly thanked people who dug deep to support five days of activities.
Anna began the week in style, clocking up almost 13km on a Monday walk and a 20km Tuesday bike ride before she tackled the Wednesday silence which her mum had said beforehand would be the trickiest part of the week.
“In different sections of the living room I had teddies and a blanket, toys and donuts, strawberry laces, pop corn and lemonade,” said Anna. “I didn’t think I could stay quiet but I did. It was tricky. I was checked on every 10 to 15 minutes and wrote on a piece of paper to communicate. At the end I felt I really needed to take some words out of my mouth!”
Susanne recalled: “As soon as the countdown clock finished she screamed and made lots of noise. She was elated.”
Anna then ran 5km on Thursday before finishing with a challenging Friday run, walk and cycle.
Sadly, however, it was not all smiles for the youngster, whose two rabbits died during that week, Holly passing away on the Monday and Ben four days later. “It was a very weird coincidence but I battled on,” said Anna, who raised more than £1,100 through a Just Giving page having initially set a modest £100 target.
“I feel very grateful for everybody who supported me because the NHS really needs it.”
Proud mum Susanne, of Crindledyke, Carlisle, said: “I can’t believe how well she’s done. Despite losing her rabbits, she still had the grit and determination to get on with it.”
