A north-east coach firm has named one of its fleet in honour of a tragic toddler who lost his battle with illness last year.
The mum of little Harry Geddes, who was born with an extremely rare condition in 2012, and died last September, said the child had a fascination with buses and would have been delighted with the tribute.
Lynne Geddes, who lives with her husband and two children in Buckie, said the family had been touched by the company’s gesture.
Mayne’s Coaches, which is based in the Moray town, chooses to raise funds for a different charity every year and elected to support the hospice group that helped the youngster and his family when his condition worsened.
Mrs Geddes said: “Harry loved buses, though he would call them ‘susses’, so this is very special for us.
“This is a really nice way for him to be remembered.”
She travelled to Kinross, south of Perth, to find a suitable palliative care centre for Harry to spend his final days.
They spent those last hours at Rachel House, which is operated by the Childrens Hospice Association Scotland group.
Coach operator Kevin Mayne said the family firm had already raised more than £3,000 by selling a calendar dedicated to the charity and plans to amass £600 more through a coach trip.
He added: “Harry touched so many people in such a short time, so with his family’s permission, we proudly named one of our new coaches Harry Jon Geddes.”
When Harry was born in January 2012, his parents learned that he had Vactrel association, a devastating condition which causes its victims to suffer spine defects, difficulties digesting food, heart problems, limb abnormalities and kidney issues.
Doctors told them that only around one in every 75,000 babies are born with the syndrome.
Despite undergoing countless operations during his short life, Mrs Geddes said Harry was “always smiling”.
Mrs Geddes is now championing a fundraising project fronted by the Charlie’s House charity, which aims to create a similar centre in the north-east.
Mrs Geddes said: “To have a facility like Rachel House in the north-east of Scotland is something that needs to happen.”
