Andy’s autographed car cash helps fund op for little Louis

By Zoe Ash

Model Shop owner John Cocks, Jo Priaulx, Louis Allen, Andy Priaulx and Kerrie Brush. (Picture by Tom Tardif, 0868601)

A GUERNSEY business has raced to help an island boy with the aid of a famous local driver.

When Scalextric reproduced Andy Priaulx’s BMW for the model track, John Cocks, who owns the Model Shop in Fountain Street, asked the triple World Touring Car Champion to sign a few.

‘We had read about the Priaulx Premature Baby Foundation and thought it could be a good way of making some money for the charity,’ said Mr Cocks, who runs the shop with his son, Steven.

‘On the ones he signed we added a £10 premium and that all went to the foundation and for every car sold, signed or unsigned, we added another £1.

A total of 102 were sold, raising £822, which they rounded up to £1,000.

This was donated to the Priaulx Premature Baby Foundation, which passed it on to Louis Allen’s parents, Kerrie Brush and Jay Allen.

Louis was born on 25 October 2008 and diagnosed with a metopic synostosis at Great Ormond Street earlier this year.

The condition, known as craniosynostosis, meant that Louis’s skull had fused together too early – it should bond only after the head is fully grown – and he would need an operation.

‘We couldn’t really take it all in because surgery involved cutting from ear to ear, taking his skull out and remoulding it,’ said Ms Brush.

Louis should spend five days in hospital but will have to stay nearby for a further 10 days in case of any complications.

A fund-raising event at the Ex-Servicemen’s Club – where Louis’s grandad Hughie Brush shaved his head – brought in a large percentage of money needed but the operation could not go ahead as planned because Louis had an ear infection and the threat of pneumonia was considered too dangerous.

‘It was very upsetting, but we knew it could not go ahead. We had to stay in London for seven days because they were worried if Louis flew it would burst his eardrum. So a lot of the money was gone,’ said Ms Brush.

Article posted on 10th November, 2009 - 2.29pm