Swansea harness aid helps boy with Down syndrome to skateboard

A 12-year-old boy has trialled a world-first skatepark aid that will allow him to participate in the sport without the help of his parents.Ollie, who has Down's syndrome, used a harness system at Exist Skatepark in Swansea because he wanted to skateboard with his friends.It was created by the Cerebra Innovation Centre which designs and builds bespoke products to help disabled children take part in activities.Kate Leonard, who owns the skatepark, said she hoped the technology will make the sport more inclusive.
Ollie's mum, Jilly, said the experience was "much more inclusive" than when he had tried other sports in the past."He has to have specialist equipment for that whereas, if he's skateboarding, he can join in with other children," she said.Jilly said she was "quite surprised" it had not been done before as there are plenty of children that need a "bit of extra support" when skateboarding."Not just children with disabilities either," she added.It consists of a harness which helps Ollie keep his balance on a standard skateboard, with handles he can hold on to.But the family is from Leicester which means trips to the Swansea skatepark will be rare due to the distance.
They live opposite another skate park and after seeing other teenagers doing it, Ollie "really wanted to have a go"."He had a good time but I couldn't let go with him because he was too scared to do it," Jilly said.She said the aid will help him to build up confidence to do it "without an adult holding him."Jilly would "definitely" like to see the equipment being implemented in other parts of the UK and, preferably, a bit closer to home."It would be beneficial to a lot of children across the country so if it could be expanded that would be great."
Dr Ross Head, Cerebra Innovation Centre Lead, said the idea stemmed from seeing a video of Ollie skating in park."He didn't have very good balance so his mum was holding him up," he said.The team developed a skateboard with handles which was "great", but Dr Head wanted to go a step further, as they attempted to tackle the "social stigma" of using equipment that is different.They decided to create a brand new skatepark adaptation so Ollie would be able to use a harness system. "Exist Skatepark were over the moon to help," he said.The new system has allowed Ollie to "have the same skateboard as everybody else" which was "really important for us," according to Dr Head.Children's charity Cerebra are set to unveil the new system for public use at Exist Skatepark on Sunday.
Dr Head said Ollie has shown that it "definitely works" but there is "much more we can do"."I think we've just scratched the surface," he said."There's a huge amount we can do for disabled skateboarders.""It would work for anybody just learning to skate. It's going to be absolutely amazing and it could take around 30 people a day."The current framework is suitable for people that are new to skating, but Dr Head said he hoped it will be able to be used by more experienced skaters in the future.
The Exist Skatepark has been owned by Kate Leonard and her partner since 2011.She met Dr Head in December last year when he came to her with a proposition to feature the harness in her facility.She found it "really emotional" to see Ollie in the skate park and admitted she "cried a few times"."We do an awful lot of things in the community but this had such a new dimension to what we can offer," she said.She said seeing Ollie's face was a "delight" adding that it "felt like a moment".Kate said that skateboarding has to "move forward" and the way to do that is to allow "everyone to do it.""I think it's massive for Wales," she said."There are only four indoor skate parks in Wales, which is crazy, but if you start making all of those accessible to everyone, then that creates a boom, you know."

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