A TALENTED young rugby player will take his first steps back on to a pitch this weekend just months after suffering a devastating heart attack.

Fourteen-year-old Henry Ackroyd, of Ilkley, hopes to carry the match ball on to the pitch during a charity day at Ilkley Rugby Club when there will be a game between the club’s under 14s and Sedbergh School’s under 14s.

It is no mean feat for the rugby- mad teenager who is a junior member of Ilkley Rugby Club and a pupil at Sedbergh School. In January he suffered a cardiac arrest as he took part in a cross country run at school.

His brain was starved of oxygen despite the efforts of school staff and paramedics and he has had to learn how to walk and talk again.

But his battling spirit has seen him progress well and on Sunday he will be allowed to leave the paediatric neurological ward at Leeds General Infirmary where he is still being treated, to attend the charity day at Stacks Field which will raise money Continued on page two Continued from page one for The Great North Air Ambulance, in honour of the role it played in saving his life.

The event is sponsored by JCT600 BMW, as well as other firms such as Schofield Sweeney Solicitors and organisers are hoping to raise £5,000, which will be equally split between the air ambulance and wards 32 and 33 at LGI, as unfortunately Henry is not only junior member of Ilkley Rugby Club battling a challenging medical condition.

LGI is playing a major role in helping under 15s player Freddie Morse, 14, who has been having treatment for leukaemia for some time. He is currently undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy ahead of a bone marrow transplant on March 21.

Club chairman Richard Scargill said: “It certainly puts life in perspective. We already have donations of £3,600 with another £1,200 pledged. We are charging £1 to come in on Sunday and there will be a raffle and a competition around a Mini.”

Henry lives in Ilkley with his parents Ross and Bridget Ackroyd and 12-year-old sister Emily, and his father said paid tribute to Sedbergh School staff who saved his son’s life. “It has been hard but we are lucky he is still here and it down to these people,” said Ross.

“They started CPR immediately and fortunately the school nurse and doctor were on the scene in five minutes and they carried on until the air ambulance arrived to take him to the James Cook hospital in Middlesbrough where he was treated in intensive care.

“He collapsed from an unknown heart problem which is an incredibly rare condition where the artery which leads to his heart gets trapped. It is a physical, not an electrical problem, which is good news because it means now they have found it they can operate.

“Unfortunately, he suffered brain asphyxia and has had to learn to talk and walk again but he is making big leaps forward and his goal is to get back to Sedbergh. You can’t keep a good man down.”

Andrew Fleck, headmaster at Sedbergh, added: “Henry is a real fighter. I went to see him when he was in a coma and there was a tangible sense that he was fighting to recover.

“I think that the response from everybody that day was exceptional and as head master I am enormously grateful for all of those who were there.

“Henry is an exceptional athlete, good rugby player and a very good student. He was at the beginning of his time at the school but was working hard and very popular amongst his peers, who were devastated at what happened.

“We are so pleased he is recovering so well and delighted that our players are taking part in the charity day on Sunday.”

The charity day will be devoted to junior rugby with the under-7 through to under-12 age groups all taking on sides from Cleckheaton at 10.30am. The under-14s will play Sedbergh School at 11am with the senior colts taking on Old Brodleians at 1pm.