They were born almost exactly NINETY FIVE years apart.
But little Ethan Rankin and Captain Tom Moore have approached the current pandemic with the exact same determination – to help others.
The four-year-old, from Alloway, was inspired by the centenarian who raised £32 million for NHS charities by walking 100 lengths of his garden.
Watching Tom’s efforts on the television Ethan turned to mum Erin Ferguson-Rankin and said “I’m going to cycle 100 miles for the NHS”.
Erin could be forgiven for not taking her son, who had only moved off his stabilisers just weeks before, seriously.
But fast forward two weeks and the youngster has already completed over 70 miles – and he’s coined in over £2,000 in the process.
Erin told the Ayrshire Post : “It’s just phenomenal. I never took him seriously at first – he only got his stabilisers off on April 4.
“But he started pestering me to set up his JustGiving page so I thought we better give it a go.
“He was only hoping to raise £100 and every day he’s been asking me how much money he’s at.
“It’s amazing, he has no concept of how much that actually is he’s raised.
“He’s obviously not learned about money yet so he has no idea that this is a phenomenal amount of money for a four-year-old to raise.”
Every day Erin has been dragged out by Ethan, desperate to get on the road to clock up his miles.
They have been traveling up the old railway line, along to Doonfoot and down to the beach before heading back home on the roads.
Dad Aaron and brothers Aidan, 2, and Evan, 12, join for moral support and Erin said: “We have all been knackered but Ethan's just been pedalling away on his one gear bike.
“Every cycle he always gets comments from passers by because he’s so cheery. As he cycles past he says hi to everyone.”
Ethan’s papa was diagnosed with a brain tumour seven weeks ago and his best friend has also recently been diagnosed with leukaemia – but that has only fuelled the youngster’s motivation.
Ethan said: “The NHS are helping so many plus my papa and my best friend. I watched Captain Tom on TV and I thought I want to cycle 100 miles before my birthday to raise money for them.”
The inspirational youngster turns five on May 18 and he received an early birthday present for his efforts from Sprockets in Kilmarnock – a brand new EIGHT gear bike.
Head to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Erin-Ferguson1 if you think you can top up Ethan’s total.
