An incredible five-year-old whose charity exploits have captured the nation's hearts has now raised more than £700,000 for a children's hospital.

Little Tony Hudgell has become a national sensation as he follows in the footsteps of his personal hero, Captain Tom Moore, by taking on a walking challenge outside his Kings Hill home.

The brave lad - who gets about thanks to prosthetic limbs and crutches - hopes to walk 10km by the end of the month to raise money for Evelina London Children's Hospital that saved his life as a baby.

He was left without legs after he suffered horrific abuse at the hands of his biological parents.

The Discovery School pupil has only been using his artificial legs since January, but his adoptive parents say he has been making huge progress since starting this walking challenge on June 1.

Proud mum Paula Hudgell said: "It's not an easy task for him and each day he marks up a huge achievement. We had to give him lots of encouragement at the start, especially as his challenge began the same time he went back to school.

"But now he knows people have kindly donated so much money and that it will help so many other children like him, he can't wait to get going.

"It's just incredible how much he has raised and it has gone beyond our wildest dreams. Tony however doesn't really have any concept of money and so thinks he's raised £500 million pounds."

Tony has been given encouragement from footballers at his beloved Chelsea football club - even receiving a shirt signed by the players.

Mrs Hudgell added: "He was absolutely thrilled with his t-shirt, he put it straight on and we're going to get it framed for his new bedroom. The Chelsea Captain has been absolutely incredible with his support."

With just 10 days left to go, Tony has reached the halfway milestone and by the end of today would have walked more than 6km.

So far his Just Giving page has raised more than £700,000.

Mrs Hudgell added: "We just thought a few hundred pounds would help the hospital out but this is life changing.

"It's going to help so many children and also Tony's ongoing care because he will be receiving treatment from Evelina's until he's an adult."

The abuse by Tony's birth parents Jody Simpson and Antony Smith resulted in him having to have both legs amputated and left him fighting for his life when just 41 days old.

The Maidstone couple were both eventually jailed for 10 years in 2018 and have had subsequent attempts to slash their sentences rejected by the courts.

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