Young boy honoured for bridge walks in mum's memory

Six-year-old Jacob has been honoured by the doctors who treated his late mum.

A young boy from Tayside who raised thousands of pounds in memory of his mother who died from a rare lung illness has been honoured by the doctors who helped treat her.

Jacob McDonald from Wellbank completed six bridge walks, one for every year he’s been alive, to support research into Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Outside Ninewells Hospital yesterday, six-year-old Jacob received an award for his achievements.

“For a six-year-old to achieve what he’s done and to get the award from the trust as well, is just amazing,” said his dad Kenny.

“We walked the Tay Road Bridge last August both ways. One week after that we walked the Forth Road Bridge both ways.

“We took a little bit of hiatus until after Christmas and then in May we did the Skye Bridge both ways.

“In June we did the Kessock and Cromarty bridges both ways and in July we did the last one, Erskine bridge.”

The motivation for this challenge was Jacob’s late mum Vivienne. She died in 2017 aged 32 after several years of poor health.

Not long before she passed, Vivienne found out she was expecting a baby boy, which she would name Jacob.

“She chose to carry on with the pregnancy despite the high, high risks and against the odds she made it through and Jacob was born, a miracle baby in fact,” said Dr Robin Smith, who led Vivienne’s treatment at Ninewells Hospital.

“We’ve kept in touch with the family ever since Vivienne’s sad death which was about 18 months after he was born.”

Jacob’s challenge in memory of his mother saw him raise around £6,000 for the Pulmonary Fibrosis Trust.

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