A young boy has overcome his long-standing fear of swimming pools and is taking part in a 29km swim challenge to raise funds for Autism NI.
Jamie Barclay, 10, was diagnosed with Autism in 2011 and has struggled with certain aspects of life such as sports days in school, riding a bike and swimming.
However, in the past year, the determined youngster learnt how to ride a bike and how to swim, two tasks his parents were told his Autism would prohibit the Ballyclare boy from mastering.
Jamie's dad told Belfast Live that he and his wife were delighted when they saw him take to the pool like a duck to water last year.
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He said: "Jamie has always struggled with sports. He doesn't like sports days in school and is more interested in reading books.
"We signed him up with the Valley Leisure swimmers last year and after six weeks he still couldn't do it.
"The next week, he went in and he just started swimming. We were absolutely delighted for him and encouraged him to keep going.
"It took Jamie to really have a think about the swimming for him to get his head around it and just do it. He is such a determined child and when he sets himself a challenge he doesn't like to fail.
"He recently sat his AQE test for secondary school and told me and his mum that he would do it, and he did. He did us really proud and was able to apply to his first choice school."
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Last Tuesday, Jamie told his dad Michael and mum Nicola that he wanted to raise money for children with the same difficulties with him.
His challenge begins on April 1 and he will be swimming 1km per day for the month of April, having a day break on his 11th birthday on April 29.
Overall Jamie aims to swim 29km and had set a target of £500.
In less than a week, he has smashed the target and is on a total of £685 so far, which will be presented to Autism NI in a special ceremony in May.
To keep up to date with Jamie's challenge, visit Michael's Facebook page and to donate to the fundraiser click HERE .
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