About us

Sam's Superheroes Foundation was founded by Rachel Liew in 2021 to create a legacy for her much-loved kind and gentle son, Sam, who in died in May 2021, aged five years old. It allows Sam's short life to continue to make a difference in the world for years to come. Sam is at the heart of the charity and our activities incorporate all the things he loved about life. At Sam's Superheroes we:

Fund animal assisted therapies and activities for young people,
Fund creative therapies and activities for young people,
Provide a therapy dog service for young people in a variety of different settings such as schools and mental health organisations,
Support and raise funds for FIRES research, and
Provide grants to families affected by FIRES.

In June 2024 we applied to become a registered charity with the UK Charity Commission.

Some activities we have carried out include:

Funded and facilitated children's grief workshops 'PAWS of Comfort' in partnership with Bridge the Gap in Derby,
Funded Summer Horse Activity Programmes with Scropton Riding for the Disabled Centre,
Provided children's hospital activity packs for Blackpool Victoria Hospital, with over 1,800 delivered to date
Funded art therapy for two Derby families with Bello Mind and Soul
Funded activities for the play therapist team at Nottingham’s QMC Hospital,
Provided grants for two UK FIRES families
Funded an animal themed day out for a local Derby family
Provide therapy dog services to schools and other organisations.

Hospital Activity Packs

Our therapy dog

Daisy, is our therapy dog and she carries out her work with Rachel, Sam's mum. She is a black labrador and plays a leading role in our charity through her transformative therapy dog work with young people.

Daisy is actually Sam's dog and came into his life as a puppy, when he was two years old. It was love at first sight and they were joined at the hip from that point onwards! She is loving, kind, joyful, calm and caring - just like Sam.

Daisy’s therapy dog journey began when she was kindly allowed to visit her big brother, Sam, when he was in critical care and she blew everyone away by her calmness. When Sam died we knew that Daisy had to play a central role in his charity, and felt she had the perfect disposition to be a therapy dog. And boy, we were not wrong!

Daisy underwent training to be a therapy dog with Brook Working Dogs in Belper and she passed her Therapy Dog Assessment with Pets as Therapy in November 2021.

Daisy and Rachel (Sam's mum) are currently completing a Therapy Dog certification programme with PAWS - Therapy Dogs to ensure they can deliver safe and effective animal-assisted therapy in a variety of different settings.

Daisy makes astounding impact in her work, connecting with children in ways adults simply can’t. She spreads Sam’s love and energy in the world and makes children smile wherever she goes. We are proud she has reached the final of BBC Radio Derby’s Local Hero Awards 2024 for her work. The final will be held in September so watch this space!

Our current therapy dog work includes:

Silverhill Primary School in Mickleover
Castle School in Derby, a specialist school provision
St Thomas Catholic Primary School Ilkeston
Bridge the Gap, Child Mental Health in Derby
Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham
Lunar Mind in Derby a therapeutic service specialising in trauma and attachment
Delivering children's bereavement workshops in partnership with Bridge the Gap in Derby

Daisy our Therapy Dog

Sam's mum, Rachel

Sam’s mother, Rachel, is committed to #FindACureForFIRES. Since Sam died she has been tirelessly sharing Sam’s FIRES story with doctors, researchers and the wider community to raise awareness in the UK and support the critical need for research.

In 2023, Rachel was a guest speaker at the NORSE Institute's International Conference. The NORSE Institute is based in America and the leading global expert on FIRES and was founded by a truly remarkable lady called Nora Wong, after her son Daniel died of FIRES in 2013. This year Rachel shared Sam’s story at the UK’s Epilepsy Research Institute’s Reception in London where she also had the honour of introducing the dedicated researchers leading the very first UK FIRES Research study.

Rachel has also shared her personal diary from when Sam was in hospital fighting F.I.R.E.S. to raise awareness and show why research is so badly needed. F.I.R.E.S. can afflict any child and happens without warning, and devastatingly there are other children in the UK battling it right now. Take a look at her diaries on our website by clicking here

Meet Sam's mum

About Sam

Sam grew up in Mickleover, situated just outside of Derby. He was born at Derby Royal Hospital, attended the wonderful Orange Tree Day Nursery Mickleover and from there he went on to attend the fabulous Silverhill Primary School.

Sam was beautiful, kind, loving, gentle and joyful. He adored cuddling up to his dog Daisy and exploring the great outdoors. Shy with people he didn’t know, he was articulate and had wisdom beyond his years. Sam loved superheroes and making his family and many friends laugh! He was a healthy child and rarely ill, but just after his 5th birthday, Sam and his family were catapulted head-first into a battle to save his life from the sudden onset of FIRES. After a seven-week fight in paediatric critical care at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, our beautiful Sam passed away due to catastrophic and irreversible brain damage, caused by his relentless seizure activity.

Meet Sam

What is FIRES?

FIRES, or Febrile Infection Related Epilepsy Syndrome, is a rare and catastrophic condition that affects healthy children with no prior history of epilepsy or seizures. The seizures begin suddenly and explosively following a simple febrile infection or virus, rapidly progressing into relentless seizure activity that is exceptionally difficult to stop. Children often remain in an induced coma for weeks to months, with life-changing impacts. One in five children die during the acute stage, and those who survive often suffer significant neurological disabilities and life-long epilepsy. There are currently children fighting FIRES in the UK, with three cases in the East Midlands in the last three years.

UK FIRES research

Supporting FIRES Research is a key objective for us. It is in its infancy in the UK with only one research study, which started in 2023.

We are now partnering with an incredible team of NHS Doctors and Research Fellows from Great Ormond Street Hospital and Aston University, Birmingham who are at the forefront of UK children’s FIRES research. Together, we make a strong partnership and we know we will make a difference and help save children's lives from being destroyed by FIRES. We are currently raising funds for UK FIRES Research with a goal of £50,000 to enable further research to take place. To donate click here.

It's not yet understood what causes FIRES and there are no known effective treatments. We could not save Sam, but must try and save other children.

Current fundraising

Over the next six months we want to raise £50,000 for FIRES research. One of our fundraising activities is Sam's BIG Scoot. This challenge has two primary goals. The first is to raise awareness of FIRES to attract more research. The causes of FIRES are still unknown, and there are currently no effective treatments. FIRES is desperately under-researched, with the first and only UK research study starting in 2023. Our second goal is to urgently raise as much money as possible to help fund further research. Whilst we could not save Sam, we can strive to save other children. Support this challenge, and you could help save children’s lives...what an IMPACT you could make! To donate click here. To read more about this challenge click here click here

Sam's Big Scoot

Our location

Our base location is Derby and where the majority of our activities are carried out. It is also the area where our Therapy Dog service operates, although we do visit a wonderful Primary School in Ilkeston with Daisy as well.

We also carry out a key activity in Blackpool, providing children's activity packs for Blackpool Victoria Hospital. To date (June 2024) we have gifted over 1,800 packs. Our Blackpool work is carried out by Sam's two aunties, Aunty Rhiannon and Aunty Sharon. They have worked hard to create strong links in Blackpool and Blackpool Victoria hospital are deeply appreciative of their work click here.

Sam had a strong connection to Blackpool, it was like a second home for him. Sam's mummy, Rachel, was born in Blackpool and lived there until 2015. He visited many times throughout his short life to see his grandparents, aunties, cousins and friends.