Boy with cerebral palsy takes on Arctic adventure after dad's death from bowel cancer

A 10-year-old boy with cerebral palsy has endured sub-zero temperatures in the Arctic to raise money in memory of his dad who died of cancer.

Caeden Thomson from Corby, Northamptonshire, had previously helped raise £20,000 for the charity Scope by climbing Ben Nevis with his family - including dad Alan - in 2020.

Fresh from their success the fundraising family were keen to take on a more ambitious challenge and set their sights on the Arctic.

But the following year Mr Thomson, 40, was diagnosed with bowel cancer and died in February 2022 at the Cynthia Spencer Hospice in Northampton.

Following his death Caeden, his mum Lisa and siblings Ashton and Khya, decided to continue with their Arctic plans to raise money for the hospice.

Mrs Thomson said her late husband would have thought they were "crazy".

"I think obviously because he was planning on doing it he would have been the encouragement for everybody," she said.

"We had those moments of sadness, but then it was 'No, come on, we're doing this for Dad', and it just brings that lightness back."

Earlier this month the family travelled to Sweden, first to Umea and then Jokkmokk, where they went into the wilderness.

During their five-day trip they lived through sub-zero temperatures in home-made shelters and trekked though snow more than 1.5m deep.

The family were helped by two survival experts from adventure travel business Trueways Survival.

The challenge was particularly tough for Caeden was was born 13 weeks prematurely and has difficulty walking because of his cerebral palsy.

He said: "It was a good experience, but it was cold and challenging.

"We were basically staying outside half the time and then we would go back inside to warm ourselves up and then challenge ourselves to try to do something again."

Caeden and his family are more than half way towards their £10,000 target for the hospice.

They are also planning to take on more challenges once they have had a chance to recover.

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