NEW LIFE JULY 2008
Issue 173
40p
GOOD NEWS STORIES
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Find ind out what was le leF leFt Ft in the ‘‘sin sin bins bins’... ’... pa paG paGe Ge 3
A RIGHT ROYAL HONOUR FOR VOLUNTEERS – PAGE 2
mum’s faith unshaken after son’s horrific accident
prayers will help my boy INJURED... Lee Gilmour
A MOTHER who is leading a daily vigil at the bedside of her son has told how she believes prayer will help him regain consciousness.
Ann Gilmour’s unshakeable faith has been admired by people in her home town of Middlesbrough, where she has urged people to pray for son Lee. The popular 21-year-old has been unconscious in hospital for five months after a BMX bike accident left him with a fractured skull.
BRAVELY But his mum believes he will recover if people pray for Lee – and bravely opened her heart to the media to focus attention on her son’s plight. Lee was in Newcastle, Tyneside, on his way to visit pals at the city’s university when the freak accident happened in February. The 6ft 3ins apprentice plumber was performing a stunt on his BMX bike when
The Archbishop of York skydives with instructor Lance Cpl Lee Reid
by Matthew Murray
he flipped over the handlebars and landed heavily on his head. He was initially taken to Newcastle General Hospital, where he stayed until April, before switching to the Hawthorns neurological rehabilitation centre in Peterlee, County Durham. Mum Ann said: “When I got the first call to tell me what had happened, I had no idea how severe it was. We were told the next 24 hours would be crucial, then the next 48 - now they don’t know what he will be like until he wakes up.” Ann, who attends Zetland Park Methodist Church, Redcar, says her faith, and the prayers of others, are a major comfort. She added: “We’re a Christian family and I feel it can help. People all over the country have been praying for him. “I’m often asked ‘can we do anything?’ Continued on Page 5
Photo by Lance Cpl Steve Candlish, courtesy of the Red Devils. www.reddevilsonline.com
archbishop puts trust in a devil! THe Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, has jumped 13,000ft out of a plane to raise money for families of soldiers injured in Afghanistan. It was Dr Sentamu’s second attempt at the parachute jump with the Red Devils display team. His first was cancelled last
month because of bad weather. He said: “I was praying like anybody’s business up there. It was an amazing experience.” The tandem skydive took place at RAF Langar, near Nottingham. Dr Sentamu said he had skydived because he felt it was important to value the lives of soldiers.