Warrington schoolgirl reunites dad with man whose life he saved 10 years ago

Video report by Zoë Muldoon

An eight-year-old girl from Warrington has reunited her dad with the man whose life he saved after a cycling accident almost ten years ago.

Emily O'Gorman's dad Stephen O'Gorman helped rescue Brian Abram, who hit a wall and plunged into a river during a bike ride in Tameside in 2013.

Stephen who was passing by, saw Brian's bike helmet bobbing in the river. When he ran over to help, he realised Brian's spine was so damaged that he was too injured to move. Eventually an ambulance arrived and took Brian to hospital.

But Stephen was told later that Brian had died.

Stephen said: "We met people after in the village and they told us he hadn’t made it and I was devastated to think that all that effort had been in vain. I can’t sum up in words how horrific the experience was."

Almost ten years later, Brian, who is spinal cord injured and a wheelchair user, has written a series of children's books - Grandad Wheels - with all of the proceeds going to charity.

Brian now tours schools with his books to break down myths about people with disabilities, and has spoken to almost 20,000 children so far.

He visited Gorse Covert Primary School in Warrington in July, where he met Emily O'Gorman. The eight-year-old girl told her dad Stephen about the visit and through remarkable coincidence, Stephen realised that Brian had actually survived.

Stephen said: "I just couldn't believe it for weeks and weeks.

"The coincidence was just unbelievable. I got in touch and I said 'it's Stephen from that terrible day."

The pair have become friends, but on Tuesday, 13 December, Brian, Stephen and Emily all met together for the first time.

Brian donates all of the money raised from his books and school visits to two charities that helped his recovery - Spinal Injuries Association and Back Up. So far, he has raised over £51,000.

Brian said: "I just want to help others and help the charities that helped me.

"The chance of my being in that school and for Emily to be there too is ridiculously small.   But it happened and I couldn’t be happier about it!"

As for Emily, Stephen says she now has all the Grandad Wheels books, and they are all she talks about.

Stephen said: "Brian is a fantastic role model to young people proving that disability is no obstacle explaining to children about disability and the challenges that other people can face."

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