Father and son to take part in 43-mile cycle ride to raise money for teenager involved in car collision

A 12-year-old boy is taking part in a 43-mile cycle this weekend to raise money for his friend who was involved in a collision and left with severe head injuries.

Indy Stockwood and his father will be cycling from their home in Nevill Road, Lewes towards Brighton, starting on Saturday, November 12.

The pair will be raising money for the Sussex Air Ambulance and Jake Coleman, 14, who is currently in the King’s College Hospital in London.

They have so far raised £3,343 in three days.

Indy, who has known Jake for just over a month , said: “I've always been quite a sporty person, so I felt like it would be quite a good idea to kind of test my abilities and try to do something good for everyone. It's good for us, Jake and the Air Ambulance Service.

“If people can't donate it's completely fine, it's more to spread awareness that these things unfortunately happen and to support the Air Ambulance and people involved in these sort of things.”

The incident which caused the teenager to start the fundraiser took place on Wednesday, November 3, when the South Coast Ambulance Service were called to an incident where a pedestrian had been involved in a collision with a car.

A statement from the South Coast Ambulance Service, said: “We were called to Nevill Road on the A275, just before 8pm last night, after a pedestrian had been hit by a car, who we identified as a teenage male.

“We were soon joined by the Sussex Air Ambulance, who landed on Nevill Green and airlifted the boy to King's College Hospital in London.”

Jamie Stockwood, Indy’s father, said of the incident: ““We've been in communication with his family since the accident happened. Jake [Coleman] has had a big effect on Indy in the last month or so. They’ve been hanging out a lot and seem to have become good friends really quickly.

“We just want to support them in the best way we can. It's been a very difficult time for Jake and his family and there is a lot of pressure on them.”

The duo set a target of £500, which was surpassed within a couple of hours of the GoFundMe page being made public.

Mr Stockwood, 47, said: “Indy and I have been very touched by the amount of people who have lent their support, with the vast majority being people that we don't know.

"It's been really amazing, we set ourselves the goal of £500, thinking we might not make that and we’ve pushed through that very quickly. The response of the local community has been amazing and people far and wide have helped us out as well, so we are blown away.”

The bike ride will take place over two days, with the pair likely to stop over in Worthing on Saturday night.

Indy's father stated he was "incredibly proud" of what his son has done to help his best friend: "“Indy is a very special young man, Its been a very difficult situation for him to deal with on a personal level and this has given him a huge motivational push to get through this difficult time and feel like he is helping his friend. I couldn't be prouder.”

To donate to Indy's cause click here