Ref. 31013-30TEENAGER Mark Huggins had a fantastic surprise when a specialist sports wheelchair was given to him after he lost three chairs to thieves.

Mark, 13, is a talented athlete but had no wheelchair to compete in the paralympic games.

Now the Royal British Legion and the RAF Benevolent Fund have teamed up to give him a sports chair.

"It was my dream come true," said Mark when it was delivered.

Eighteen months ago thieves took his chair from outside his house. In the year before that two chairs were stolen out of the family car.

His mother Sally, of Thresher Drive, Groundwell, said: "It was such a wonderful gesture. It is out of this world.

"Mark is so happy. We just could not have afforded this sports chair. He has had to make do with an NHS one so he couldn't practice sport. He is good at tennis, badminton and basketball."

Last year Mark won three medals at Stoke Mandeville Hospital's Children's paralympics and is to compete again.

He suffers from hip condition Perthes Disease, circulatory disorder Raynaud's Syndrome and epilepsy.