Lottery winners donate new prosthetic leg to 13-year-old Olympic torchbearer Kieran Maxwell
By Nadine Bells | Good News – ca.yahoo.com
Kieran Maxwell, 13, carried the Olympic flame through Bishop Auckland, County Durham in northeast England on June 17, 2012.
During the torch relay, the young amputee — his battle with Ewings Sarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer, cost him his left tibia last March — tripped over his heavy prosthetic leg.
YouTube video Jakob Marklew
His family had been fundraising to buy the teen a lighter replacement limb from the United States, BBC News reports.
But this week, Britain’s biggest lottery winners announced that they’re donating the funds necessary to get Kieran a lighter prosthetic leg.
Kieran’s mother, Nicola, told the Press Association that her son started “yelling and dancing” when he heard the news.
“He couldn’t believe it. I am still pinching myself,” she said. “What they have done for Kieran will be a small drop in the ocean for them but for him it will change his life. He can go back to being a normal boy. He can be himself. Words cannot describe what they have done.”
The new leg will allow Kieran to walk and run freely without a crutch.
Colin and Chris Wier won £161m in a EuroMillions draw last July. They heard about Kieran’s story through the grandmother of one of his friends and decided to give a five-figure donation.
“When we heard about Kieran and his family’s fantastic efforts to raise money for a new prosthetic leg, we had to help. It is a privilege to support him,” Colin Weir told the Press Association.
At a press conference following news of their lotto win, the Weirs acknowledged that “with great wealth comes great responsibility” and have since been donating large chunks of their fortune to those in need.
Read the whole news at http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/good-news/lottery-winners-donate-prosthetic-leg-13-old-olympic-160235638.html
