Can you see yourself in our video of the Kesgrave Santa Dash for teenager Kim Sale today?

Ipswich Star: A Santa Dash has been organised to raise money for the Kim, you'll never walk alone fund. Kim with all her supporters.A Santa Dash has been organised to raise money for the Kim, you'll never walk alone fund. Kim with all her supporters. (Image: Sarah Lucy brown)

The Kesgrave community once again threw itself behind a campaign to raise funds for a prosthetic leg for 14-year-old Kim Sale this afternoon.

The 5km Santa Dash, held at Millennium Sports Ground in Kesgrave this afternoon, was the latest in a string of fundraising events to help raise more than £20,000 to buy Kim a silicone prosthetic leg, more natural-looking than those available on the NHS.

The Kesgrave High School pupil was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, in May, and made the difficult decision to have her right leg amputated above the knee in October after a tumour became wrapped around a neuro-vascular bundle of veins, nerves and arteries.

More than 480 people had registered for the Santa Dash in advance of the event, with several more turning out on the day.

It was followed by a silent auction, raffle and refreshment sale in the Jubilee Hall at the sports ground, where children could also pay a visit to Santa’s grotto.

The group had raffle and auction prizes donated to the cause from a number of local businesses and residents, between them worth a value of over £5,000.

Speaking from the event, Kim said: “It’s amazing. I wasn’t expecting this many people to turn up.

“It’s just amazing how many people are coming up to me saying hello, and doing the run and raising money for me.”

Kim has been having five hours of home tutoring a week, provided by Kesgrave High School, and hopes to return to school after Christmas.

“I should be up and walking by Christmas on a general NHS leg,” she said. “I’m hoping to go back to school in January.”

Her mum, Kellie Thorndyke, said: “It has been absolutely fantastic. I don’t think any of us envisaged quite how the campaign would take off.

“This is definitely an amazing place to live.

“It was quite shocking in a way. We knew that it took off very quickly when the initial page went live, it was amazing how quickly it took off, but to see this many people here today is just fantastic.”

The Jude Brady Foundation has recently pledged its support to the cause, and will donate 10% of the cost of a prosthetic leg and for a specialist ‘blade’ which will allow Kim to continue playing sports.

The original crowd funding page came to a close on November 29 with pledges totalling £18,500.

Donations can now be made by texting YNWA01 and the amount without a space (for example YNWA01£1) to 70070.