A Wilmington man and his Bexley father are taking on Mount Snowdon to help raise funds for four-year-old identical twin sons who have cerebral palsy.

Caiden and Reece Todd were born ten weeks early and diagnosed with Periventricular Leukomalacia following six weeks in intensive care. This causes damage to the nerve pathways that control motor movements, resulting in muscles that are tight, spastic or resistant to movement.
At one year old they were diagnosed with cerebral palsy. They may never walk and if they do, will need equipment and assistance to do so.
To give them the best chance of becoming as mobile as possible, the twins attend private physio every other week at a cost of £154.
Father-of-four Glenn Killick, 50, a welder, and Joe Killick, 22 a lift engineer, will be taking on the gruelling challenge on March 22nd and hope to reach the peak of the 1085 metre mountain in under eight hours.
Glenn said: ‘Our local social club is run by Caiden and Reece’s aunt Karen, and we’ve held several fundraising events for them over the years there.’
‘I’m 50 this year and wanted to take on something different and challenging, so I decided to climb Mount Snowdon – and I persuaded my son Joe to do it with me.’
‘It’s not something either of us has done before, though we are both used to hiking. We’re taking the Watkin Path – said to be the most difficult of the Snowdon routes . We figured if it was worth doing, it was worth doing properly!’
‘People have been very generous and we’ve already smashed our original £500 target, so we’re now aiming to raise £1200.’
‘Caiden and Reece are progressing brilliantly but their family have to constantly pay for private physio, so we’re always happy to help with this as much as we can.
Lisa Todd, 44, who lives in Bexley with her husband Christopher, 44, an area manager for a welding company said:
‘Caiden is a gentle, happy boy who gives the best cuddles, beautiful smiles and has the most infectious laugh. He is currently nonverbal, unable to sit unaided for more than a minute, unable to crawl or walk, though he can roll.’
‘Reece is a cheeky monkey who doesn’t want anything to get in his way. He is now able to sit unaided and has begun to crawl. He can also say his alphabet, count to 20 and sing quite a few nursery rhymes.’
‘They go through a lot – both boys have recently had hip surgery – left and right adductor release and bilateral hamstring release.’
‘Physio is such a huge part of every day but they take it all in their stride and are still the happiest of boys. We have been very lucky with previous fundraising and thanks to this, were able to take the boys to Swimlab international in February.’
‘Swimlab International is a week’s intensive therapy week in Lanzarote. They have three hours of physio per day (one on land and two in the pool) over the five days. We are raising money to go back next year.’
The family is being supported by children’s charity Tree of Hope which helps families fundraise for children like Caiden and Reece with healthcare needs which cannot be provided by the NHS and provides charity status to benefit from gift aid, corporate support while also providing donor reassurance.
Tree of Hope CEO Becky Andrew said: ‘We wish Caiden and Recce and their family all the best with their fundraising activities and Glenn and Joe the best of luck for the Marathon. We are pleased to be supporting them to give them the support in reaching their fundraising goals.’
To learn more about Caiden and Reece or to sponsor Glenn and Joe, visit https://www.treeofhope.org.uk/todds-tots-fundraiser/ or www.justgiving.com/fundraising/todd-s-tots-mount-snowdon-climb-22nd-march