THE mums of two children with rare conditions said they cried tears of joy after an anonymous donation saw them reach their target to pay for a specialist ‘travel pod’ to take on holiday.

Layla Craven, seven, of Saltaire, was one of only 21 people in the world with 5q14.3 microdeletion syndrome when she was diagnosed, aged one. Her symptoms include being non-verbal, she has epilepsy and has to be sedated at bedtime.

This makes a standard bed unsafe for her and she is now too big for a travel cot and needs the specialist ‘travel pod’ instead.

Charlie Holmes, five, of Baildon, was diagnosed with Baraitser-Winter Syndrome (BWS) last year, which affects the development of many parts of the body, particularly the face and the brain.

Charlie had a developmental delay due to brain abnormalities, a cyst on his brain, seizures, a hole in his heart, was born with a cleft palate and has been in and out of hospital all his life, due to illness and surgery to correct his airways.

Their story featured in the Telegraph & Argus on Wednesday, March 7, as their parents looked to raise £2,000 to pay for a travel pod to make it safe for Layla and Charlie to sleep on their respective family holidays in Europe later this year.

An anonymous donation on the families’ online fundraising page for £833 took them to their £2,000 target. It was accompanied by the message: “Every child deserves to live their dreams, have a fantastic holiday Charlie and Layla!”

Layla’s mother, Sophie Boocock-Craven, and Charlie’s mum, Francine Jackson, said they cried happy tears when they found out their total had been reached.

Layla and Charlie are classmates at Chellow Heights Special School (West), Bingley Road, Heaton, and hope to pass the travel pod around their class for future holidays.

Mrs Boocock-Craven said: “I don’t have a clue who sent us the donation.

“I just started crying and was shaking when I found out. I texted Fran about it. She was crying as well.

“I could not believe it. It will take about three weeks to arrive now, which is just before our holiday.

“Having the money for the travel cot is a massive weight off our shoulders.

“I assume the anonymous person who gave us the money read about it in the T&A. We are really grateful and cannot thank them enough.

“I felt stressed before about going on holiday, but now I feel excited. We are going to share the travel cot with other parents at school.”