Talented Patience now has the top gear with £4k bike!
Young GB triathlete boosted by charity donation
A YOUNG triathlete has been given a major boost in her pursuit of sporting success – thanks to a £4,000 bike donated by a charity set up in memory of a boy who went to the same school as her.
Patience Lamb, aged 14, is on the British Triathlon Talent Pathway – a system supporting athletes with elite potential.
She runs, cycles and swims all over the country and finished third in the British Championships last year.
She is rated as one of the UK’S top prospects for her age – despite a heart condition known as superventricular tachycardia. This means her heart beats faster than normal.
Patience, from Talke, has always had to work harder to pedal than some of her rivals as her bike wasn’t at the same level.
Now she has a new £4,000 bike after successfully applying to the Jack Dulson Memorial Fund.
Patience’s dad, Wayne, said: “She’s very grateful. It’s a better quality bike with better gears, a lighter frame and faster wheels.
“It’s a still a ‘medium’ price compared to some but it puts her on more of a level playing field. She’s so much faster now.”
The charity fund was set up in memory of schoolboy Jack Dulson, who sadly died aged just nine in 2014.
Jack, from Waterhayes, had pericarditis, a condition where the membrane that encloses the heart becomes swollen.
It had been made worse by a bacterial infection.
Since his death, his parents Gary and Sharon have raised more than £100,000 in his name.
The charity raises awareness of pericarditis and also provides funding for leisure and recreational activities for young people up to the age of 18 so they can fulfil their potential.
Jack was a pupil at Newcastle-under-lyme School, where Patience currently attends, so it is a particularly poignant donation.
Although Patience was three years younger and didn’t know Jack well, she remembers seeing him at various sporting events at the school.
Patience is currently targeting the Super Series of five races for youngsters across the country. She lies 14th after two races despite not being fully fit after picking up an injury in the first part of the year.
She said: “The Jack Dulson Memorial Fund are amazing, they have made such a difference to both my racing and training. I now feel that I can compete on the bike, no disadvantages, it’s just brilliant! I really do love my new bike.”