Ripon boy enjoys safe outdoor space thanks to community support

William Riddler from Ripon needed a safe outdoor space to socialise in during his cancer treatment – and thanks to donations from the local community he got just that.

The 13-year-old needed the space to be able to enjoy time with friends and family without the worry of infection.

William was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma in March 2021. He is undergoing chemotherapy currently and then will move on to radiotherapy.

The top item on his wish list was a hot tub and with the £10,000 raised via his JustGiving page, the family were able to buy one and build a wooden shelter around it.

Since getting the hot tub this month, William has been able to relax after treatment and invite a friend over.

He said:

“It’s great, I’d wanted one for a while. My friend liked it too but he did say it was too hot!”

Family friend Sarah Bostock had set up the fundraising page as her way of helping the family. In a matter of weeks it had hit its £10,000 target.

This is William’s collection of ‘beads of courage’. He gets a new bead each time he receives treatment, has surgery or has a community nurse visits.

William has to go Leeds General Infirmary every three weeks for chemotherapy, which requires him to stay in hospital for three days.

Since his diagnosis William has had several operations and will need five more rounds of chemotherapy before starting radiotherapy.

Despite all this, his smile remains bright.

William’s mum, Louise Riddler, said:

“His immune system is so low after the chemo that any infection can make him really poorly.

I couldn’t believe how many people wanted to help, it was just amazing. We had planned to do it ourselves but when the clot was found on his heart we knew we had to move quickly.”

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Ms Riddler is hoping that William’s physio may be able to give him some exercises to do in the hot tub to build up the strength in his legs and arms.

Besides the outdoor space, William is enjoying have tutors in twice a week while he can’t attend lessons at Outwood Academy. He says his favourite subject is maths.

More work is set to be done to finish the outdoor space, including a new roof and electrics for a projector.