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| FEATURES | BY CATHERINE ETOE |
 Actresses Emma Thompson and Imelda Staunton, front, with, from left, Jim Carter, George, Martin and Beverley Williams, Dr Khalid Hussain and Nicky Mumford  Emma Thompson and Jim Carter pick winners |
The Sense and Sensibility star joined fellow actors and West Hampstead residents Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter to draw the raffle at the charity night at Hampstead Cricket Club, organised by groundsman Martin Williams and his wife Beverley. The couple, who live at the ground in Lymington Road, West Hampstead, want to raise cash to fund research into hyperinsulinism, a rare condition which their four-year-old son George was born with. The youngster had most of his pancreas removed by the time he was nine weeks old and his parents are keen to help other children who have the condition. On Saturday, Ms Thompson, whose daughter Gaia is a chum of George, gave the Children’s Hyperinsulinism Fund charity, based at Great Ormond Street Hospital in Bloomsbury, a boost when she handed out more than 20 raffle prizes at a barbecue and disco night at the club. “George was born around the same time as our daughter so they grew up together on the cricket pitch,” Ms Thompson told the New Journal. “You find that children who are suffering or damaged in some way are often remarkable. It makes them inspirational and George is one of our small community inspirations.” Experts say between 10 to 15 children a year are born with the condition, in which their pancreas produces too much insulin. The hormone insulin regulates the level of blood glucose in the body. Children with the condition are at risk of brain damage if their blood glucose drop below normal levels. When drug treatment failed to help George, who spent the first six months of his life in Great Ormond Street Hospital, the youngster had to have most of his pancreas removed. “I lived there the whole time,” said Mrs Williams. “It was pretty traumatic but the staff were amazing and so supportive.” George now has to take special enzyme supplements and is intolerant of some foods, but only has to go back to hospital for yearly check- ups. But while their son is well on the road to recovery, the couple have joined other parents to raise cash for the Children’s Hyperinsulinism Fund. Around £2,500 has been raised since the charity was launched. The money will go towards funding a clinical specialist nurse and to help with research at Great Ormond Street. George’s doctor at Great Ormond Street, Dr Khalid Hussain, and nurse specialist Nicky Mumford attended Saturday night’s fundraiser. “It’s only by research over the last five years that we’ve begun to unravel this complicated condition,” said Dr Hussain. n For more information, contact the Children’s Hyperinsulinism Fund, c/o N Mumford, Level 9E Endocrine offices, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Great Ormond Street, WC1N 3JH. |
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