Boy aims to conquer water fear with charity swim

A nine-year-old boy says he will overcome his fear of water to raise money for a mental health charity that helped him.

Daniel, from Fulford, near Stoke-on-Trent, said a book written by the founder of local organisation Bear Force helped him deal with challenges in his life.

They included the death of his grandad and his aquaphobia and the youngster said he was more confident after reading the book.

"He's come a long way in the last two years or so," said his mum, Lynsey, who bought him the book.

Daniel said he planned to fully overcome his fear of water by swimming 100m (109yds) at Whitmore Lakes in Staffordshire this summer and raise £500 for Bear Force.

His mum said she saw him becoming more quiet and introverted last year so bought the book and introduced him to Richard Bland, the charity's founder.

“I thought this book might be something good for Daniel to read, take on board and hopefully help him to come out of his shell and speak up a bit more,” she said.

Daniel became a youth ambassador for the charity and was given their bear mascot to take with him which he said he took everywhere to raise awareness about children's mental health.

He added: "I took him to the butchers, my swimming lessons, a Stoke City football game and I fed him chocolate cake. He wasn’t sick, I was!”

Lynsey said: "Now he's not afraid to swim underwater so his next challenge is to swim in a lake."

Mr Bland wrote the book after his son, Andrew, took his own life in 2013 and based it on a teddy bear called AB who in the story overcomes his fears and becomes a pilot.

His charity supports children’s mental health with the aim of encouraging them to talk about their fears and concerns.