The parents of a Dundee swimmer wept tears of joy after a surprise bumper donation helped secure their daughter’s place at the Special Olympics.
Taylor MacKenzie, from Downfield, has been named in Team GB’s squad for this summer’s event in Berlin.
However, the 15-year-old’s dreams rested on raising enough money to pay for travel, accommodation and training kit.
Taylor’s parents, Lisa and Richard, launched a Gofundme page hoping to raise £2,000 to help cover the costs — and were “gobsmacked” when a Fife business stepped up to donate the entire amount after reading about it in The Courier.
It takes the total several hundred pounds above the original target with dozens of others also supporting the cause.
Richard described the moment when they received a notification confirming the target had been hit so suddenly.
He said: “The message popped up on my phone and I was gobsmacked.
“I showed Lisa and the pair of us sat there with tears in our eyes. We’re so excited to share the news with Taylor.”
With donations now passing the initial target, Richard has thanked all the family’s backers and says anything extra will be put towards autistic pupil Taylor’s training.
He said: “Any money that has been carried over will assist us with travel costs to get Taylor to training sessions down in England.
“Although it is fantastic to see so many people donating, we know that we can’t keep the page open for much longer. We will contact Gofundme to help close it down.”
Fife firm wants Taylor to ‘live her dream’
Donna McElhinney, a director at Cupar-based contracting firm T&N Gilmartin, says the company decided to act after reading the family’s story.
She said: “I read the article when I arrived at my desk on Thursday morning and thought it would be a great opportunity to help Taylor and her family out.
“As a parent of two children I understand the commitment that is needed in regards to costs and travelling.
“It would have been a travesty if Taylor didn’t get the chance to live her dream.”
Donna revealed that Richard and Lisa got in touch with her after the donation had appeared on the Gofundme page to thank her for her support.
She said: “I got a call from them later in the day and they were quite emotional. I don’t think they were expecting many donations and they were extremely grateful.
“They said that they would like to keep in touch. Taylor is definitely going to be on our radar over the summer and we can’t wait to see her participate.”
Donna continued: “As a company we actively support women in sports. We have sponsored Raith Rovers’ women’s team and have donated to other female-focused charities like Maggie’s.
“We just feel that it’s nice to see people helping each other.”
Conversation