Kelvin Batey got chatting to a young kid at a BMX track three weeks ago. The events that have transpired since then are pretty amazeballs, it must be said.
A few weeks ago we brought you an uplifting story about Irish BMX Olympic hopeful Kelvin Batey and a young kid he met in a local park in the UK where he is based.
Batey put out a Facebook message with a photo of the boy on a BMX bike and dresses in kit that he’d cobbled together himself and that really needed upgrading.
He put an appeal out to the BMX community for new kit for the boy and also went about trying to find him again.
The good news is that he’s achieved both; he found young Callum and was absolutely inundated with offers of gear for him.
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As these photos reveal, he has now kitted him out with a new bike and full new gear.
Batey posted the following message on his Facebook page today, Tuesday, updating the situation since we last reported on it.
“When I first met Callum I could see his enthusiasm for BMX and set out to try and get him a few things to help him progress and reach some goals he spoke about,” he writes.
“After the original post a few weeks back we have been overwhelmed with the amount of offers for donations and help.
“So it came to a point where we could have totally kitted him out 5 or 6 times but the stuff that has come through from everyone has been absolutely amazing.
“Callum is now decked out with a new complete race bike, helmet, custom race kit, goggles, number plate and custom stickers.
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“There have also been offers to take him to regional races and purchasing his race licence; unreal!”
Batey also said that when he posted his original message, some people who replied were concerned young Callum was in a local park on his BMX bike on a school day rather than in the classroom.
However, the Rio hopeful has clarified the boy has “a few problems” and so only does half days at school.
“He spent all his free time on his old bike but he is now saying he wants to get back into full time education after the boost of receiving his new stuff,” Batey explains.
“Further down the line I'm looking to set up some kind of foundation in each region to do something similar for riders showing commitment to the sport and wanting to do well.
“This will be put together at some point at the end of this year.”
He rounded off what is a fantastic story by saying he was very grateful to everyone who had helped, saying he was sure we’d see the boy at some major races soon.
What Callum looked like when Batey first met him and...
....what he looks like now.
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