COULD a small boy taking a tumble at school in St Ives really have repercussions halfway around the world?
In the case of six-year-old Dan West and the Philippines typhoon disaster the answer was definitely yes.
But this wasn't chaos theory at work.
Because as dad Seb West sat by his beloved son's hospital bed while the youngster waited to have his arm encased in plaster, he got to thinking about the disaster that claimed thousands of lives.
Seb, an artist in St Ives, said he had thought about the very different outcome if Dan had been a six-year-old living in the Philippines and had broken his arm during Typhoon Haiyan – ahis musings motivated him to start an online art auction that raised more than £2,000 for the disaster relief effort.
Seb said: "As the tragedy was unfolding Dan took a tumble at school and broke his arm. We spent the next 24 hours in hospital waiting to have it reset and during this time my mind kept dwelling on the people in the Philippines.
"I couldn't stop thinking that if he had received this relatively minor injury there he would probably have died from it; and if he had managed to get treatment, what would he be coming out of hospital to? No home? No food or water? Possibly no family?
"Sometimes it takes a small tragedy in your life to put things into perspective."
Seb placed one of his paintings on eBay with all the proceeds going to the Disasters Emergency Committee.
He said: "I was pleasantly surprised when three of my friends and fellow artists – Glyn Macey, Simon Colgan and Judy Joel – got in touch and also donated pictures to the listing. The auction received about 2,000 views and attracted more than 50 bidders. Together the pictures raised £2,201."
The pictures were won by a family from Birmingham and are being delivered by Three Lanes Transport, which has donated its services.
