A Sefton Labour councillor has swum with sharks to raise money for an inclusive football team.
Carla Thomas, who represents St Oswald’s ward, chose to raise for funds for Bootle Bucks Inclusion FC by taking part in the swim at Blue Planet Aquarium.
Carla was called a ‘miracle baby’ after she was diagnosed with aggressive neuroblastoma at birth and was only given two weeks to live by doctors.
She survived, but has lived with disabilities since a tumour invaded her spinal canal, despite years of intense chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Carla, who grew up in the 80s and 90s, said: “There was no encouragement for people like me because of fears that I may injure myself or injure another child, so I was often separated from the other kids when it came to sport.
“I usually sat in a drama or art room and was unable to be involved.”
Because of this Carla loves what clubs like Bootle Bucks can offer for children with disabilities, as this wasn’t an option for her growing up.
She said: “We’ve come such a long way since I was a child and there is now a place for children with disabilities within sport to develop physically and to be mentally active as well as just being happy.”
Carla had to undergo training before completing the challenge, including learning specific hand signals and how to be under the water with an oxygen tank in a training pool with an instructor before she made the plunge into the shark infested waters.
She said: “Once you’re in there, what an incredible experience it was seeing the sharks up close but for me seeing the Bootle Bucks boys on the other side of the glass just motivated me so much as they were making heart hand gestures to me through the glass.
“They were all very excited it made it all the more worthwhile just knowing they were having a good time.”
The money raised is going to help the children and their parents involved in Bootle Bucks to take part in an inclusive football tournament in Wales next year.
This will encourage them to build a competitive nature in inclusive football as well as allowing them to meet other children from around the country doing the same as them.
Carla believes that clubs like Bootle Bucks allow these kids to push the boundaries and let people see what people with disabilities are capable of achieving.
She said: “One rule I’ve always lived my life by is strength doesn’t come from physical capacity it comes from an indomitable will if you’ve got that will in spades you can do anything you like.
“Clubs like the Bootle Bucks’ family will do everything they can to push those children to achieve what they want to achieve.”
Featured image: Bootle Bucks Inclusion FC
