I found this story by browsing GoFundMe as I enjoy writing human interest stories based around fundraisers and this type of content usually does well for CambridgeshireLive. I also find it very fulfilling to be able to help others raise awareness of certain illnesses and conditions and potentially helping to give the fundraiser a boost, encouraging more people to donate.

This GoFundMe page in particular really shocked and saddened me as one-year-old Otis Hughes had been diagnosed with leukaemia at an incredibly young age. During research for the story and preparation for the interview, I also found out that he had been forced to make multiple trips to A&E and had lost feeling in his arm.

I was able to arrange an interview with Otis’ mum, but I had to give plenty of thought to the types of questions I was asking to make sure they were sympathetic and relevant to the fundraiser. I also needed to gain written permission from the family to use their photos as well as publish the story because, although it wasn’t a problem here, some people could be uncomfortable with having such personal pictures and details broadcast to a wide audience if they were in a similar situation and I needed to ensure that everything in the piece was 100% accurate.

The story got picked up nationally by the Mirror and did more than 5,000 views within the first week of being published. It really resonated with our audience as we had a lot of comments sending well-wishes to the family and a lot of people donating to the GoFundMe page after publication.

Therefore, as a result of this story and the impact it had on our readers, I now regularly browse fundraising websites such as GoFundMe and JustGiving sites to see if there are other stories of the similar kind that we can cover for our site.