Wigan dad designs badge to keep his son and other vulnerable youngsters safe after shielding

The caring dad of a youngster with a rare genetic condition got creative when he wanted to keep him safe during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Six-year-old Alfie Sales has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and spent 19 weeks shielding at home to protect him from the virus.

But when the Government advised that vulnerable people who were shielding could start to go out, his dad Kieron, from Leigh, was worried about the best thing to do.

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He said: “Nineteen weeks, 131 days, 3,144 hours, 188,640 minutes. Whichever way you depict these stats, they are a very long time in regards to a family with a child who has a life-limiting illness.

Alfie SalesAlfie Sales
Alfie Sales

“Compared to his peers these four months equate to years.

“Time is precious, every second of every day is precious.

“Since Alfie’s diagnosis in 2018 our lives have been filled with so many questions that we don’t have an answer to but we always said that whatever happens we want to make as many memories as possible. What we didn’t factor into that equation was Covid-19.”

Once shielding rules were lifted father and son started to go out for walks, but Kieron was a long way off from feeling comfortable integrating back into society.

He said: “Even during these walks people didn’t social distance. Common sense should prevail when you see a young boy in a wheelchair coming towards you, but on most occasions it has been us frantically trying to get out of their way.”

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Kieron approached charity Muscular Dystrophy UK to find out if they could work together to create an identity lanyard or badge, so people would be aware that Alfie was a vulnerable child.

They already had a design from volunteer Chloe Ball-Hopkins, who has a muscle-wasting condition, which features a heather flower, symbolising protection, but Kieron thought Alfie would prefer something different.

He said: “Alfie is not really going to wear a heather, because he’s only six.

“I asked if they would mind if I tried to design one for kids so it was a bit more appealing.

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“I was looking at maybe a superhero shield at first and looked into different animals.

“With the lion being quite courageous and it battles, it linked in with the children who would be wearing it.”

Alfie has a lanyard - dubbed a “lionyard” - as well as stickers for him to wear and for his wheelchair, so people know to keep their distance.

His older sister also has a shield so people know her brother is vulnerable.

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Muscular Dystrophy UK says the idea has been a hit, with Kieron’s badge, along with three other designs, clocking up 4,364 downloads since July 1.

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