Comedian Russell Kane supports appeal for Brandon girl Dayna to have ‘life-changing’ Innowalk

A well-known comedian has lent his support to an appeal to raise around £30,000 for a piece of equipment to improve a Suffolk girl’s quality of life.

The English comedian, writer and actor Russell Kane has donated £300 to the fund-raising page for Dayna Fitzgerald, 16, who lives in Brandon, near Thetford, and is a pupil at Riverwalk School, in Bury St Edmunds.

The appeal is to fund a piece of equipment called an Innowalk for Dayna, who has mitochondrial disorder, Complex 3 deficiency (Bjornstad Syndrome), which is a rare genetic disorder that affects every part of her daily life.

On Instagram, Russell shared the fundraising appeal with his 394,000 followers, saying: “This beautiful soul has a condition which can be much improved with just a little bit of our generosity.”

On X, formerly Twitter, Darren Fitzgerald, Dayna’s dad, said: “awesome what a genuine caring guy, good luck with your tour [sic].”

Speaking to SuffolkNews, Darren said he contacted the comedian on Instagram and he was ‘so great’.

Russell is bringing his tour ‘HyperActive’ to Ipswich’s Regent Theatre on November 30.

Darren said he has been trying so hard to raise money for the appeal, which has now surpassed £1,000.

Dayna is non-verbal, unable to walk and is fully dependent on her parents for her care. Additionally, she experiences epilepsy, is tube-fed and deals with gastroesophageal reflux and constipation, which further impacts her comfort.

Despite all of this, Dayna is ‘constantly smiling and bringing joy to everyone around her’.

Over the summer, Dayna had the chance to trial the Innowalk, which is a motorised device that helps people who cannot walk to experience the benefits of movement, and she ‘just adored it’, said Darren.

If anyone has any fund-raising ideas, contact Darren by emailing darrenfit13@gmail.com