When Templepatrick Primary school asked their pupils to dress up as a real-life Covid superhero, many opted for doctors and nurses, but one 11-year-old schoolboy had another hero in mind.
Rory Agnew didn't hesitate with his choice, he wanted to pay tribute to the heroes who helped his family during lockdown, the Asda home delivery drivers.
The 11-year-old has a younger brother with Downs Syndrome so even a trip to the shop for essential items was too risky for the family who were shielding.
Mum Ceara Hogan explained: "During the first lockdown we never went out for four months. My youngest son Cain, who's three, has Down syndrome and I was petrified that he would catch it, so the furthest we went was the back garden. We relied on the Asda home shopping drivers. Without them I don't know what we would have done.
"Rory came home from his school, Templepatrick Primary School, to say they were having to dress up as a real-life Covid superhero. He said his friends were going as doctors and nurses and he asked what he could go as. I said to him 'who really helped us during then lockdown?' and he came straight back with 'the Asda delivery drivers!'"
Cear then got to work making Rory an Asda van out of a cardboard box and borrowed a spare T-shirt and gilet from her friend Denise Lennon, who works in Asda's Ballyclare store and also provided Rory with his own name badge.
Denise said she was only too happy to have helped Rory.
She said: "It was his own idea to dress as an Asda colleague and he was proud as punch when he walked into school that morning."
Emma Cross, the store's community champion, said the whole store loved seeing the photos of Rory in his uniform
She said: "Rory recognised that to work in retail over the past 12 months and more had been challenging and he wanted to say thank you in his own way. What better than to dress up as a real-life hero. Well done and thank you Rory. We salute you."
