Lottery Winners To Pay For Teenager's New Leg

A couple who won £161m in a EuroMillions draw a year ago are buying a new prosthetic limb for an Olympic torchbearer who lost his leg to cancer.

Teenager Kieran Maxwell, 13, from Heighington, near Darlington, was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma , a rare and aggressive form of cancer which affects fewer than 30 children a year, in October 2010.

He had his left leg amputated below the knee in March last year despite undergoing gruelling chemotherapy.

Despite losing his leg, Kieran is determined to remain active - he carried the Olympic Torch when the relay passed through Bishop Auckland on its way to the Olympic Games.

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But his current replacement limb is heavy and slows him down, so his parents Nicola and Alistair decided to try to raise the cash to buy him a lighter model from the US.

Britain's biggest lottery winners, Chris and Colin Weir from Ayrshire, found out about Kieran through a friend of the teenager's younger sister Alyssa.

The friend told his grandmother about the situation and she passed the information on to the Weirs who, although she did not know them, lived close by. They contacted her shortly afterwards with the offer.

The teenager "started yelling and dancing" when he heard they had bought him the new prosthetic limb, his mother said.

"He couldn't believe it. I am still pinching myself," Mrs Maxwell explained.

"What they have done for Kieran will be a small drop in the ocean for them but for him it will change his life. He can go back to being a normal boy. He can be himself.

"Words cannot describe what they have done."

Kieran's parents will continue to fundraise but will now hand over proceeds to the Toma Fund, which helps teenagers with cancer.