Anyone who knows me knows that I am enormously proud of my son Tom. Well yet again my heart bursts with pride that he has been chosen to partner the fantastic Jennifer Kehoe and Meena Fitzpatrick at this year’s Superhero Tri. 

Meena and Jen are the fantastic team who won gold at the
visually-impaired slalom at the Winter Paralympics in South Korea in 2018.

The Superheroseries is the UK’s one and only disability
sports series for the everyday superhero! Their mission is simple – To create
fun, full-throttle mass-participation challenges where people with disabilities
call the shots and don’t have to worry about cut-off times or equipment
restrictions.

Tom was born with a rare condition called PFFD (Proximal
Femoral Focal Deficiency) – this has meant that his right femur is not growing
correctly. Aged one he had his foot and ankle amputated to enable him to have a
prosthetic fitted and then at aged 4 he had part of his femur removed and his
hip reconstructed.

Tom has never let this stop him and from starting at tumble
tots when he was 18 months he is sports mad. He now regularly does tennis,
cricket, football, multi-skills and gymnastics as well as trying lots of other
sports.

Tom has been very lucky to have previously met two superheroes
in Paralympian Jonnie Peacock and Invictus Games Champion David Wiseman. He
even got the chance to film with Channel 4 last year playing a young Jonnie
Peacock!

This year we applied to be in a celebrity team and say what
Tom’s super power was – I wrote:

Tom’s superpower is his determination to always have a try
and not stop himself because of his disability.

Tom was born with a condition called PFFD, this has meant
his right thigh bone has not grown properly. At age 1 he had his foot an ankle
amputated to be able to fit his prosthetic but still has knees at different
heights and at age 4 he had part of his femur removed and his hip
reconstructed.

Tom has never not done something because of his disability –
at age 4 he ran a cross country event (before he got his running blade) with
the rest of his class, when he came home I asked him how it had gone and he
said that one of his friends ‘had come last’, I then asked where he had come
and his reply was that ‘oh I came after him’ – he said it with a genuine smile
and was just pleased that he was able to finish it and run with his friends.

Since then Tom is sports mad and regularly does gymnastics,
multi-skills, tennis, football and cricket and is about to try netball and
golf! Last year he learnt to ride a bike which for someone with different
height knees makes it even harder but every time he would fall off he got
straight back on with the same determination – he is definitely my superhero.

This year we are trying to raise money for 2 charities:

• The Shrewsbury and Telford Swan Fund – It is 10
  years this year since my father passed away at the Trust – the care and dignity
  the staff at SaTH showed him in his final hours made his passing so much easier

• Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Hospital – this is where
  Tom has been cared for since birth and the fantastic Mr Kiely and his team have
  performed all his surgeries and recuperation