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A fundraiser to support the family of a three-year-old boy who was seriously injured in a zoo’s crocodile enclosure has raised more than £100,000.
Johnsons of Old Hurst, near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, said it was “alerted to reports that a child had allegedly been thrown into one of our crocodile enclosures” on 18 June.
A 30-year-old man from Norfolk was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following the incident and was later bailed as police said he was “assessed as not being fit for interview”.
The suspect in the case reportedly has learning difficulties and had been on a trip with carers, with an investigation into his care currently ongoing.
A GoFundMe page, which was set up to support the family financially and help the boy’s recovery and rehabilitation, has now raised more than £100,000. An anonymous donation of £2,500 is among the donations.
Earlier this month, the boy’s family said in an update on the page that he had had seven operations in hospital and they are “amazed at how far he has come” and that he is “smiling again”.
Johnsons of Old Hurst, near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, previously said it was ‘alerted to reports that a child had allegedly been thrown into one of our crocodile enclosures’ on 18 June (PA Wire)
They said they are “not at the end of our journey” but “hopeful” the most recent operation “will be the last for now which means if everything goes well we will be able to go home soon”.
In an update shared on a fundraising page on Wednesday, the child’s family thanked people for their support and said the boy is now “talking to the nurses, playing using his feet and smiling again”.
An explanation on the page, written by the boy’s grandmother, said his parents remain at his side in hospital in Cambridge.
“Today our son had his seventh surgery,” they said, in an update on the GoFundMe page set up to support the family financially and help the boy’s recovery and rehabilitation.
The most recent update gave further details on the boy’s care, including that he underwent a 12-hour operation after being admitted to hospital on the day of the incident (Johnson's of Old Hurst)
“In that surgery the surgeons completed a nerve graft on his left arm.
“They harvested a nerve from his leg to replace part of the nerve that was missing in his left arm.
“Over time, this nerve will hopefully embed and help our son to regain some function in his left hand.
“We won’t know whether the nerve graft has been successful until tests can be carried out in a few months’ time.”
More than £105,000 has been donated to the fundraising campaign to date. It can be found through this link.