Over £6,300 raised in the name of 'beautiful boy' Riain (2) who passed away due to rare genetic condition with 24-hour rowathon in Peterborough

Over £6,300 has now been raised in the name of Riain Bloomfield, who sadly passed away in November.

Riain, who was just two years-old, was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition called Hurler Syndrome at 22 months old, which affects around one in every 200,000 people.

Since Riain’s passing, his family have been keen to raise awareness of the condition and to push for technology that can screen newborn babies for the condition, as well as other genetic conditions, to be available in the UK, the way that it is in the United States of America.

The family have also been raising money to give Riain the best possible send off at his funeral which will take place just three days before Christmas.

At the weekend, the funds raised were significantly boosted by an epic 24-hour straight rowing challenge across three rowing machines.

The event was organised by Riain’s aunt and uncle Maria and Andy Thomas, along with Riain’s Mum Nikki and his father Ed, as well as several other family and friends and took place at The Workout Hub in Orton Southgate between 6am on Saturday and 6am on Sunday (December 9-10).

The row was sponsored by MotorCrew Fengate and Riain’s parents also brought along his toy trike to place in front of the rowers.

Throughout the 24 hours, family, friends and gym-goers gave their time for as long as they could with the goal of not just going for 24 hours straight but to row the roughly 4400-mile distance between England and the US, the country Riain travelled to in order to receive a bone marrow transplant.

A raffle and cake sale was also held and a number of men were even willing to get their legs waxed by Paige Richards, Founder of Mirror Image.

Riain’s mum Nikki said: “Row for Riain was absolutely incredible. The love and support that was shown to us the whole day and night will never ever be forgotten.

“We can’t thank everyone enough for showing our boy how loved he truly is.

"For every single person at The Workout Hub. We are so, so touched and amazed by everyone’s dedication and passion.”

When the clock struck 6am, there was an extra special ending to the event as Riain’s father Ed, proposed to his mother Nikki and she said yes!

Ed had always planned to propose on Christmas Day with Riain and his brother Reece, playing a part in the proposal, but decided that the event provided the perfect opportunity to pop the question.

He said: “I was a bit sweaty but these kind of things opens your eyes up a lot. I always planned to propose on Christmas Day and Riain and his older brother Reece were always going to be part of that.

“I had t-shirts made for them to wear and obviously it didn’t go as we planned but I proposed with a teddy wearing the t-shirt I had printed for Riain so it was very sentimental to me and she said yes, which was the main thing!”

Donations can still be made to Riain’s fundraiser at www.gofundme.com/f/riain-bloomfield.