Hundreds step out in memory of young rugby star Tom Mole

More than 350 people ended up taking part in the Walk for Tom, a charity mission that has almost raised £30,000 for Birmingham Children's Hospital so far.

The event was organised in memory of Wollaston 14-year-old Tom Mole, who died suddenly in April this year after contracting a rare illness.

Tom was a keen player for the under-14s team at Stourbridge Rugby Club, and the roughly 16-mile walk saw friends, family, and members of the rugby community from all across the region take part in tribute to him.

His father Simon Mole said it was a 'lovely day' and added it would have been 'hard to cope' without so much support.

Simon said: "We have good days and bad days. It was so sudden. Tom was training in rugby at the time with Leicester Tigers Academy in Lichfield. He was nearly six foot, wore a size 10 and a half shoe and could run like the wind.

"But then on the Sunday he said he felt tired. We just thought it was because he had been away that week.

"So we went to Isle of Wight to see his grandma, but when we got back he said he still felt rough. So took him to Russell's Hall Hospital on the weekend - they admitted him straight away and were in contact with Birmingham Children's Hospital.

"He then was transferred there on the Wednesday, and died the following Wednesday.

If it had been cancer and he had six months or something maybe it wouldn't have been so bad - but eight days. It was like a child being in a car crash, it was just so sudden. Without the support of the club and his school I don't know what we would have done - they have been golden."

Tom's rugby coach Chris Roe said the walk was an 'emotional but touching' day - it started at 10am at Birmingham Children's Hospital on Saturday and finished at 4.30pm at Stourbridge Rugby Club, with walkers following the path of the number 9 bus route.

Chris said: "We think we had 220 people at the start, and then at the end possibly about another 100. It was fantastic. It's been a tough few months so it was great to see this was so successful."

The under-14s coach met Tom when he joined the club at just six-years-old, and his sudden death hit the entire club hard.

Walk for Tom saw nearly all members, old and young, of Stourbridge Rugby Club take part, as well as those from local rivals Old Halesonians, and other clubs across the region.

Kinver Scouts, Tom's old scouts group, gave up their minibus for the day and used it to ferry stragglers at the back of the walk to the front so they were not left behind.

Chris added: "We had people stopping in cars to give us money, and a taxi driver too. We made over £1,000 in the buckets on the day. And my phone has just been pinging all the time with notifications, showing people have donated to our online page.

"We even have some friends in Switzerland who held a cake sale and gave us £250 from that."

Tom, a pupil of Oldswinford Hospital School, died on April 26 at Birmingham Children's Hospital after contracting HLH secondary, a rare illness where the body and immune system attacks itself. He left behind parents Simon and Rachel and little sister Poppy, aged nine.

At the time of his death Chris described him as a 'true warrior' and said he 'would do anything for his teammates'.

Doctors and nurses who had looked after Tom right before he died came out to meet walkers on Saturday morning before the event started.

Visit justgiving.com/fundraising/srfcu14 to donate to the cause.