CHRISTMAS has come early for poorly Brandon Hall who has been inundated with Lego gifts following the theft of his own.
As reported, thieves took £3,000 worth of Lego from a shed at the seven-year-old's family home in Stanley Street, Grimsby, at the weekend.
We reported the story on Thursday, and by yesterday lunchtime, our offices were awash with brightly coloured bricks from kind-hearted readers and Lego themselves, who leapt into action when the story was brought to their attention and shipped three huge boxes of Lego sets, models, clothing and board games to us to hand over to Brandon.
And it appears reading about Cystic Fibrosis sufferer Brandon's devastation at the theft of the toys, which he plays with while undergoing hospital treatment, struck a chord with whoever took it – as the family discovered it on their doorstep in bin liners just hours after the story hit the streets.
His dad Andy said: "It's all been returned, we can't believe it. It's in bin bags and will take me about two weeks to put back together for him, but it seems to be all there. It's brilliant."
And he was delighted with the thoughtful donations.
"It's wonderful, we are so grateful. Anything that he has duplicates of, he will take up to the hospital for the other children to play with."
Lego spokesperson Emma Owen said: "As soon as I read the article about Brandon I knew that Lego could do something to help. My colleague Ian has been rushing around the office collecting lots of really cool Lego toys from our various cupboards – resulting in three massive boxes crammed full of brightly coloured bricks and sets.
"I hope that this helps bring a smile back to Brandon's face."
Meanwhile, members of Yarborough Round Table spent £150 on brand-new Lego kits for Brandon, and Darren Walters, from Cleethorpes, donated his Pro-Builder creations.
Keisha Kirkham, 12, from New Waltham, has donated her Lego collection to Brandon, as her late auntie also suffered from Cystic Fibrosis, and Steve Harrison, of Harrisons News on Freeman Street, also bought him some.
Collecting his new toys, Brandon said: "It's like Christmas. I like them all. It's really good.
"Thank you very much."
Brandon's grandad, John Currie, also of Stanley Street, added: "We have been absolutely overwhelmed by people's generosity.
"The kindness that they have shown is incredible and their wishes have been really heartfelt. It just goes to show that the people of Grimsby are good, despite how it might seem sometimes."
Carl Roberts, from the Round Table, added: "We always try to help good causes locally and when we heard about what happened to Brandon we wanted to cheer him up."
Darren, who built Pro-Builder models when he was undergoing hospital treatment himself, said: "As soon as I read the story I knew I wanted to help.
"My models are just gathering dust now so I hope they bring him hours of enjoyment."
• Comment: Many thanks to our kind-hearted readers
