WANNABE strongmen and women have dug deep and attempted to pull an eight tonne plane to raise vital funds for a local disabled man to return home for Christmas.
Men, women and children gathered at Coventry Airport on Saturday, October 17 in the hopes of raising over £10,000 to help send Darren Smith back home with his children in time for the festive season.
Darren, a former logistics manager at Coventry-based Bespoke Distribution Aviation (BDA), was left paralyed from the waist down following an accident four years ago.
He has since developed additional health issues which have left him with limited upper body control or movement.
Now confined to a small bungalow away from his two children, Louis and Aston, BDA staff rallied local people to pay to try their hand at pulling the plane to help raise funds for a specialist wheelchair and vital home adaptations and equipment, to allow him to return to the family home.
Offering a ‘heartfelt thank you’ to all who attended Saturday’s plane pull, Darren said: “It was a truly fantastic, awesome day, and one of the high points of my life.
“Not only did you fill my heart with love and joy but I witnessed both Louis and Aston glow with happiness.
“For the first time since that fateful Saturday back in 2011 when I had my accident, my two boys felt they were the focus of attention because they were made to feel so special.
“They haven’t stopped talking about the day and thanks to everyone’s efforts, they returned to school full of excitement, because they can say they went back to their dad’s old place of work and met lots of amazing people who were helping out their dad.
“I had tears on Saturday and am truly grateful to everyone involved.”