A SALINE family were treated to a day to remember at Knockhill as part of a fund-raising effort for their one-year-old son.

Danielle Gordon, of Kinneddar Park, was told during pregnancy that her unborn baby had congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). The birth defect in the diaphragm allows the abdominal organs to push into the chest cavity, hindering the formation of the lungs, and is fatal in around half of all births.

Despite a major operation three days after he was born, baby Lucas is now one year old and mum-of-three Danielle continues to raise awareness of the condition and the struggle that CDH babies face.

Last month, the Press told you how kind-hearted marshal Ashley Morton arranged to treat the family to a VIP Knockhill experience and raise money for charity CDH UK at the British Touring Car Championship on 23rd August.

The family got to meet their Honda hero and Dalgety Bay race ace Gordon Shedden, and fellow drivers Mike Bushell, Dave Newsham and Matt Neal also took the time to meet Lucas and brothers Johnny and Kieran.

Danielle was delighted with their “fun-filled day” and said, “Johnny, our big Honda fan, had his dream come true meeting Gordon and Matt, not forgetting Henry Neal who took Johnny around the Honda garage and taught him how the cars work and answered his never-ending questions!

“None of this would have been possible without Ashley, we’ll never forget the fun we had all weekend. A massive thank you from us as a family to Alex, Kim and Ashley for everything they’ve done from fund-raising and raising awareness to taking photos of our special weekend. And to the drivers for taking time out of their day to meet us!” Ashley added, “Danielle and her family had an amazing day on the Sunday as VIP guests with Honda Yuasa Racing. We raised £140 on the Sunday with two buckets we had at the circuit.

“One was at the marshals’ room, thank you to all the marshals that donated. And for the second bucket a good friend and Ginetta junior race car team member, Kim Boot, walked around the circuit most of the Sunday collecting.” Ashley also organised for a Dunlop sign to be autographed by the drivers and hopes to raise more money by auctioning it off.

“It will be posted onto the Facebook page of British Touring Car Talk,” he said. “It will also be posted to the Facebook page of Motorsport Marshals.

“The intention is to allow the world of motorsport to bid for the sign and on 2nd October the highest bid will receive the sign along with tickets to the last three rounds of the BTCC at Brands Hatch on 11th October. Thank you to Ryan Taylor and Dunlop for giving away tickets.” To find out how Lucas is getting on, visit www.facebook.com/lucaslcdh.