£5,000 raised to help Shropshire's Ben stay mobile
A community has raised almost £5,000 for an adapted campervan for a man who suffers from a rare genetic disease.
Ben Parker's GoFundMe page has reached £4,555 of his £8,000 goal to buy the campervan, which could carry his mobility scooter.
Mr Parker, from Brockton near Much Wenlock, has a rare muscular disease called Pompe, a glycogen storage disease, which only 150 adults have in UK.
The 37-year-old said: "It affects every part of my daily life – walking, standing, getting up out of a chair, sitting comfortably, pain, fatigue, stiffness, breathing, sleeping, walking up inclines or stairs, the list is endless."
Mr Parker, who lives with his wife Jen, receives enzyme replacement therapy every two weeks, which slows down the progression of the disease. He was diagnosed at 27 after knowing something was not quite right for a number of years.
Mr Parker added: "I volunteer with the charity that supports people with a glycogen storage disease, AGSD, trying to raise as much awareness as I can and reaching out to other people who are in a similar situation to me.
"I also volunteer at the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre a few hours a week where I feel part of a team and it is nice to have some normality in a life of abnormality."
Last year his friends and family helped buy Mr Parker a scooter, but he now needs a van to transport the scooter. He added: "The Motability scheme that disabled people can access is very limited in choice for a man who is 6ft 7in tall, can only drive an automatic and needs plenty of leg and head space, while being comfortable.
"The advanced payment on the vans through the scheme is anywhere between £4,000 to £6,000 and for that amount of money I could buy my own van and then do what I wanted to it, so I am going to do this myself and not use the scheme.
"It is not a nice feeling asking people for money without doing anything in return so I decided I would organise a spring fete and all proceeds would go to the van."
The event will be held on May 20 from 1pm to 5pm at Corve Barn Farm in Brockton. For more information, or to donate, visit gofundme.com/bensvanfund.
