Glasgow dad’s 170 mile cycle in aid of Rett Syndrome charity
Hamish Wilson will cycle from Aberdeen to Glasgow to raise money for Reverse Rett
A Glasgow dad is taking on a 170 mile cycle through Aberdeen, Dundee, Queensferry, and Glasgow, to raise money for Reverse Rett.
Hamish Wilson’s son Cameron was diagnosed with the rare genetic disorder shortly after he was born.
The condition can affect brain development, and affects around 1 in 10,000 girls, however it is much rarer in boys.
Cameron’s mum Sarah explained some of the symptoms, saying: “It affects boys differently than girls, girls can develop completely normally up to the six months to a year mark, and then they can start to regress.
“They can lose any kind of speech they might’ve developed; they can lose motor skills, they can develop seizures as well, and there’s a multitude of issues.
“Cameron has difficulty with his breathing so he’s currently on oxygen, and he has a feeding tube.
“However, he has made some really great milestones, and he’s started to drink his milk, he’s starting to eat solids.”
She added: “There’s a plethora of different symptoms that Rett can give children.”
The family hopes by taking on the challenge, they’ll help to raise both money to help develop treatments, and awareness of the condition, which they say they hadn’t been aware of before.
Dad Hamish said: “Obviously when were in hospital and we were waiting to find out what was wrong with Cameron, we were Googling things, and Rett syndrome came up, but because it’s something that primarily affects girls, it wasn’t something we’d ever considered.
“It’s been quite a steep learning cure for us understanding what Rett is.”
"The work Reverse Rett does is really important"
Hamish, his dad, and his cousin, will be cycling from Aberdeen on Friday morning to Dundee, before setting off again on Saturday to cover the distance to Queenferry, finally finishing in Glasgow on Sunday evening.
Hamish told Clyde 1: “The work that Reverse Rett does is really important, there’s multiple clinical trials ongoing across the world for different gene therapies, not to find a cure, but to treat Rett Syndrome, and they’ve had some success so far, so any money raised goes towards funding those trials.”
The family have set up a JustGiving for donations.