A YOUNG football fan who was mostly confined to a wheelchair was inspired to get on his feet and start walking in a bid to meet his Barnsley FC heroes.
Lifelong football fan Elliot Turner has followed Barnsley Football Club home and away for the past 12 years.
He has always supported the team from the side of the pitch, and never thought he would get the chance to meet the players face-to-face until he was persuaded by friends and teachers at Dearne Valley College where he studies a Level 1 BTEC in ICT to get in touch with the club.
And at Barnsley’s last home game against Bradford City, the 20-year-old was selected to accompany his heroes as a team mascot something he never thought would be possible.
Elliot, of Queen Street, Thurnscoe, has a form of palsy that means walking comes with a huge amount of effort and strain on his body and he tires quickly.
While he was more active as a young child, he says as he’s gotten older he has been more and more confined to his wheelchair.
“I said I could never be a mascot,” said Elliot. “But my teachers and people supporting me at college sorted it out.
“I found out during the last week before breaking up for Christmas. It was a great surprise.
“It’s the first time I’ve been in the changing rooms and it was nice to meet all the players.
“It was a really good experience and I took lots of photos. And we won as well, so it couldn’t have gone better.”
After writing to the club Elliot was invited to meet the team and staff in the changing room before the match.
It took some encouragement and a desire to meet his heroes to get Elliot on his feet but he now takes it all in his stride and says he wants to get out of his chair as much as possible, despite only being able to do so for short periods.
“I said that, because of me being in a wheelchair, I couldn’t do it,” said Elliot. “My learner support assistant Amanda Siddons told me to never say I can’t do something.
“I thought this was really inspiring and I’m now going to the gym every Monday and Thursday.
“I do treadmill, bike, and rowing machine exercises for my arms too. I think that this exercise and Amanda and Lee’s support has really helped build my confidence.”
Lee Bowes, a lecturer at DVC who teaches Elliot, said meeting the team was the ‘stuff of boyhood dreams’ for the student.
“For Elliott to meet the players meant so much,” said Lee. “He was so excited at the prospect, it motivated him to practice his walking so that he could meet the players without sitting in his wheelchair.
“All of the staff were absolutely delighted for Elliott to realise his number one dream. Barnsley FC were absolutely fantastic and this is why they have a special place in our community.
“Elliott was discussing his life ambitions with his support worker. His number one dream was to walk on the Oakwell pitch.
“However because of his disability he resigned himself to never realising this dream. We had to do something.”
While Elliot didn’t get the opportunity to walk out with the players, he did chat with them before the game and managed to walk out on the pitch with the match ball before kick off.
“There wasn’t time to go out with the players,” he said.
“When they go out onto the pitch they’ve got timings to keep to and they walk pretty fast, so I couldn’t quite keep up.
“I just want to walk more now and get a bit more exercise.”
