Seriously ill 10-year-old Oscar Knight will get the special wheelchair he desperately needs – thank to an 'oarsome' fundraising marathon.

More than 40 people took it in turns to put their backs into a 24-hour rowing machine marathon to raise the £2,000 needed to buy Oscar's wheelchair.

The day and night effort has already raised some £2,500 and organisers are expected even more to come in.

Oscar, who suffers from a disorder of the nervous system called complex regional pain syndrome which has left him in increasing pain since he was just five years old, needs the wheelchair so he can go back to school.

At the moment he is only able to manage two hours of school a day but eventually, with the help of the new paediatric wheelchair, it is hoped he will be able to attended full time again, revealed Oscar's mum Natasha.

Oscar lives with mum Natasha and dad Will in Victoria Road, Dartmouth.

Natasha said the made-to-measure wheelchair has already been ordered thanks to the fundraising effort and will be ready in six weeks' time and it will last him until he is 18.

'We are very grateful and absolutely stunned by the local support. A lot of people I have never even met took part. They rowed and they donated. It has been amazing,' she said.

The 24-hour rowathon, which took place in Coronation Park, Dartmouth, was organised by Jenny and Phil Pichowski and Lynne Leader.

Local rowers Yorkie Lomas and Phil Langman weighed in with three rowing machines from Dartmouth Rowing Club, while Colin and Halina Brown who run Brownies Cafe on the park, handed over their facilities to support the fundraising effort.

Jenny said more than 40 people took part in the rowing and a band of Oscar's friends arrived to take over for the last hour of the rowathon which ended at 6pm on Saturday.

'It went really, really well,' she said. 'It was absolutely brilliant. Loads of people came down and there was a really nice atmosphere.'

She pointed out that the fund had started off with £500 which had been donated by local regatta rowers who handed over their regatta prize money to the fund.

'We have already made about £2,500 and there is still more to come in,' she added.

'The town has been absolutely brilliant with the volume of people who came to the park and the people who just turned up on the day to have a go.'