Little Lewis's scooter replaced by kind-hearted armed forces veterans

ARMED FORCES veterans have donated a replacement scooter to a young boy from Ashley who was involved in an accident whilst on his way to school.

Lewis Howlett (7) was riding to Ashley Infants School with his mum Katie when he was in a collision with a 4x4 as he was crossing the road.

She said: “We were waiting to cross at Ashley Common Road, and a bus happened to be waiting to pull away from the bus stop.

“The lady driving the bus allowed us to cross so I put my hand up to say thank you and I said to Lewis, ‘Come on, we can cross’, but a 4x4 was overtaking the bus.

“I jumped back so quickly with his sister in the pushchair that I couldn’t grab Lewis in time, and he unfortunately got hit.

“He was side swiped, which took him down the road hitting his head and grazing his right side. The scooter was dragged under the car and run over completely. If it was a second earlier he could have hit the front of the car instead of the side.”

Lewis was lucky to receive no serious injuries but the same could not be said for his beloved scooter, which was damaged beyond repair.

It was given to him as a Christmas present and Katie could not afford to buy another for her son.

Katie said: “He wanted a stunt scooter so he could ride it to school, and the first Monday he went back to school after Christmas, this happened.”

She added: “Lewis suffers from anxiety and this has made it worse. He is scared to go out in case he gets hit by a car. He has healed physically but mentally he's still suffering.”

Upon hearing the story, Katie’s friend Sally Wilson offered to have a word with her husband Jim Wilson, who is a member of Lymington Armed Forces and Veterans breakfast club.

The veterans were only too happy to buy a replacement for Lewis and he and his mum were invited to The Kings Arms in Lymington on 2nd February to receive it.

Peter Stevenson, co-ordinator of the breakfast club, said: “The scooter was a Christmas present and the mother had no means to replace it – she was devastated.

“The wife of one of our members Sally Wilson, knows the mother and asked her husband Jim, a local double amputee veteran, if we could help. Well it was a no brainer. We replaced it with a new one straight away.”

Katie said: “We are so grateful to the veterans and I can’t thank them enough. Lewis was beaming with smiles and was very pleased to be back on his new scooter.

"I am hoping receiving the replacement will bring back his confidence in going out and try riding to school again.”