Leeds mum hits £50k fundraising target 11 years after son Ricky Nugent's tragic rugby death

Anne Cameron, who lives in Whingate, lost her son Ricky Nugent nearly 11 years ago just days before his 17th birthday.

Ricky suffered a brain haemorrhage while playing rugby and despite efforts to save him, he never regained consciousness.

His death left his Anne and her family in shock. Ricky was a promising young man who attended Farnley High School (now Farnley Academy) before enrolling on an electrical installation course at Park Lane College.

Anne, 66, has since devoted her life to raising money for charity and will hang up her fundraising boots after reaching her target.

She made a promise to Ricky to raise £50,000 before the 10th anniversary of his death and has donated thousands of pounds to dozens of charities, including Sue Ryder Wheatfields Hospice, Help for Heroes, Headway, Yorkshire Ambulance Service and The Rugby League Benevolent Fund.

After a year's delay due to the Covid pandemic she has made a final donation of nearly £13,000 to Leeds Cares, the charity arm of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

The money will help NHS staff, patients and families at the Neurological Intensive Care Unit at Leeds General Infirmary, where Ricky was cared for in his final hours.

Anne said: "Apart from all the tears I shed after making the donation, it was a massive sigh of relief, my shoulders just dropped down.

"I couldn’t stop doing it [until the 50k] because I felt like I had made a promise to Ricky, I had to carry on."

Anne held her first fundraiser in August 2010, which was attended by the Lord Mayor of Leeds and raised several thousands pounds.

Hundreds of supporters have followed her fundraising journey on social media over the last decade and Anne thanked everyone who had shared Ricky's story in a final Facebook post.

“The Facebook post went viral, I got so many comments, likes and messages from people I don’t even know", Anne added.

“One lady said she’d seen Ricky’s name over the years and although she didn’t know Ricky, and doesn’t know me, she felt as though she knew him.

"It’s been like wading through treacle this year, it’s been hard work. The only thing we could do was online raffles.

"But we did it - with a lot of help and people supporting us.”

Anna Foster, community fundraiser at Leeds Cares, said: "It has been a pleasure to support Anne with her fundraising and I can’t thank her enough for raising close to £13,000 for Leeds Cares.

"This money will make a huge difference to NHS staff, patients and families on the Neurological Intensive Care Unit.

"Without support from people like Anne, we simply wouldn’t be able to do what we do."

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