OLYMPIC DREAM
Basketball star needs new special chair
A disabled teenager is desperately trying to raise funds for a bespoke wheelchair that will help him to progress in the sport that he loves.
Fourteen year old Kieran Jones from Holyhead has hereditary spastic paraparesis, a condition that causes gradual weakness in the legs.
He has been playing wheelchair basketball since he was 10, but now needs a specialised sports wheelchair to allow him to continue.
The Bodedern High School pupil has excelled at the sport playing for Conwy Thunder Wheelchair Basketball Club.
He also plays for the regional team North Wales Knight’s and represents Wales at Under 15 level, where he was made captain at the age of 12.
His coach Mark Richards believes that he has a bright future in game, but in order to progress he needs a wheelchair that will give him greater movement and speed on the court.
Kieran is now pleading with the public to help fund the cost of the chair so that he can carry out his Paralympic dream.
Kieran said: “I’m extremely ambitious and my aim is to make it into the GB squad and play in the Paralympics.
“However, players at that level are using high specification wheelchairs that give them extra speed and freedom of movement.
“The only way that I can compete with them is by acquiring a wheelchair that would give me the same agility.”
Kieran’s mother, Emma, aged 41, was told by coaches that an Elite sport wheelchair, used by Paralympic athletes, would meet her son’s needs, but it comes at a cost.
The chair, which is priced at £4,493, is perfectly designed to improve Kieran’s performance on court but is way beyond the family’s budget.
Emma said: “We’ve started a campaign with help from Caudwell Children who have helped us to contact a number of different organisations including charities, rotary clubs and masons lodges.
“I also want to appeal to the public and business community and ask them to give us a helping hand.
“With their support I believe my son could go far in the game.
“He travels to Conwy once a week to train with his club and he also goes to Rhyl each week for development training.
“He travels to Aberystwyth for monthly sessions with the Wales squad and he goes to Worcester to play in the National Junior League Championships each year.
“If that isn’t enough, club games take him to places like Lancaster, Sheffield, and Paisley, up in Scotland.”
Trudi Beswick, Chief Executive for Caudwell Children, the national charity that provides practical and emotional support to disabled children and their families, is now urging the public and business community to get behind this appeal to ensure that Kieran makes it to the top in the game.
You can support Kieran through his Just Giving page: www.justgiving. com/fundraising/ chair4kieran and can also text to donate by texting: KIER95 £amount 70070.