Teenager with cerebral palsy chosen to switch on East Lancashire hospice Christmas lights (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Teenager with cerebral palsy chosen to switch on East Lancashire hospice Christmas lights

4:00pm Saturday 24th November 2012 in News

A GENEROUS teenager with cerebral palsy has been chosen to switch on East Lancashire Hospice’s Christmas lights - at a service on the same day as his 16th birthday.

Lewis Baker-Vose has raised almost £1,000 for the hospice in the past four years in memory of his grandmother Ruth Baker, who died in 2008.

He has taken part in the seven-mile Church and Oswaldtwistle Rotary charity walk for the last four years in his wheelchair.

And last year Lewis, a pupil at Tor View School in Haslingden, was adamant that he wanted to walk across the finish line.

Each year the Light Up A Life event run by the Blackburn Hospice invites people to make a donation in memory of a loved one. They will then receive a card, a light will be lit in their memory and they will also be invited to the service at Blackburn Cathedral.

Lewis’ grandmother Ruth suffered from breast and lung cancer and attended day therapy sessions at the hospice in Park Lee Road, Blackburn.

His mum Sharon Baker-Vose, 41, of Highfield Close, Oswaldtwistle, said she is very proud of her son.

She said: “When I read the letter from the hospice and it said Lewis has been chosen to switch on the lights, I had to read it again. It didn’t sink in. I read the date again and it was almost like my mum had sent it to him as a present.

“His 16th birthday is a big milestone for Lewis. We were going to make a big fuss, but this will make it extra special.

“I have never been to the service before, because I’m still coming to terms with my mum’s death.

“My mum and Lewis were inseparable.”

Lewis will be switching on the lights at this years service, starting at 7.30pm, at Blackburn Cathedral on Monday, December 17.

Sharon Crymble, the hospice’s fundraising manager, said: “Lewis is an inspiration to many and we are extremely grateful to him for raising this fantastic amount.”