Fundraising event goes swimmingly (From The Northern Echo)
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Sponsored swim to raise money for new limbs
8:29am Thursday 12th November 2009 in Limbs For Lyndon
HELPING OUT: Pictured with Lyndon Longhorne, front, are, from left, fellow Wear Valley Amateur Swimming Club members Jordan Hanson, Alice Brown, Sarah Cooper, Grace Dutchburn and Ceara Best
LYNDON LONGHORNE can thank his swimming friends for the latest donation towards his new limbs.
He and his fellow members of Wear Valley Amateur Swimming Club took part in a sponsored swim last night which could raise hundreds of pounds for the Limbs For Lyndon appeal.
The inspirational 13-year-old, from Crook, County Durham, lost both legs and part of an arm to meningitis as a baby, but dreams of competing in the Paralympic Games.
A campaign led by Durham County Council chairman Brian Myers and The Northern Echo raised £10,000 to buy the schoolboy new prosthetic legs.
People have been so keen to help that the organisers now hope to buy Lyndon a £25,000 bionic arm for when he learns to drive.
The fund, barely a month old, stands at more than £9,000.
More than 20 members of his swimming club, including Lyndon himself, hope to bump up the total after they took to Bishop Auckland’s Woodhouse Close Leisure Centre pool for an hour each.
They were aided by another future potential Paralympian from the North-East – Matthew Wiley, 13, from Washington, who suffers from cerebral palsy.
Together, they expect to raise up to £1,000.
Lyndon’s mother Tammy Shevels spoke yesterday of how proud she is of her son and the family’s excitement about his new legs.
They will be ready just days before his 14th birthday later this month.
“He is coming on in leaps and bounds with his training,” she said.
“Everyone at the swimming club loves him, he has so many friends here.
“We’d just like to say thank you for all their support.”
Lyndon’s swimming coach, Jo Barber, is overjoyed with his progress.
“He is doing fabulously,” she said.
“A lot of swimmers could take a leaf out of Lyndon’s book in terms of his guts and determination.
“Every time he gets in he is improving. He has taken ten seconds off his 100 metres time which just shows what he is doing so he’s on target, I’m very pleased with him.”
She hopes he can start to realise his full potential by qualifying for a regional talent programme next year.
