"When you’re impacted by CF, you want to be able to give something back."

Life with CF

We didn’t know what cystic fibrosis was before Rhys was diagnosed. The phone call from hospital will live with me forever, but overall we have been very lucky. The modulator drugs have been a real gamechanger and Rhys does a lot of sport and exercise. Swimming, golf, football, rugby, basketball – whatever keeps his lungs at maximum capacity. 

We also have a six year old daughter. She is very aware of Rhys and his CF, and on those days when he doesn’t want to do his treatments, she is always there to help and encourage him. She’s a great support to all of us.

Fundraising

During the pandemic, Rhys was eight years old, and we were under the shielding programme to keep him protected. Rhys was bored and home schooling, and thought it might be a great opportunity to raise some money for Cystic Fibrosis Trust. He came up with a few ideas but his best one was to try to get organisations and athletes to donate sporting memorabilia, and organise some gala dinners with sports stars, selling tickets to raise money. 

To say it blew up is an understatement. DPD and DHL were at our house day after day, delivering parcel after parcel. We had shirts donated from Messi, Ronaldo, Pele; we had Rugby Lions shirts, and even a holiday on a yacht with a private chef. 

We actually ran out of room in the house to store all these amazing prizes, so as we came out of the pandemic, we knew we had to organise these dinners as soon as possible. I contacted Shane Williams, Jonathan Davis, Mike Phillips and some other big rugby names, and they agreed to get involved. 

The first event raised £22,000 and the second £15,000. Rhys also thought of a golf day, which raised £4,000. We are now planning a huge one towards the end of next year and Rhys wants to hit his target of raising a total of £50,000. 

Child of Wales awards

When you’re impacted by CF, you want to be able to give something back. All his fundraising challenges really helped his mental wellbeing during the pandemic because he was achieving something and doing something productive. He worked really hard. 

I got a phone call from the Child of Wales awards in 2024 saying he’d been nominated for their Young Fundraiser award, which was incredibly exciting news. We attended the dinner hosted by Gethin Jones and there were over 300 people there. We couldn’t believe it, but Rhys won! He went up on his own and did a speech and spoke well about what he did. It was a really emotional and memorable night for everyone who knows Rhys, and as a parent seeing him recognised for what he has done at such a young age was incredible.