Students clock up swim cash to support Wath classmate

Year 13 boys at Wath Comprehensive School raised £2,200 for the Stroke Association with a sponsored swim in honour of 18-year-old Oliver Jones.

Josh Hillman, Huw Barber, Alex Schofield, Matty Hetherington, Charles Lord, Ben Saunders, Ben Wright, Tom Probert, Sam Robinson and Caelan Taylor-Mackenzie, Liam Roebuck and Oliver himself combined to clock up an impressive 52 miles between them in the pool at Wath Leisure Centre.

Josh said he and his friends, who are all from Wath and Swinton, had come up with the idea for a charity challenge because they were shocked by what had happened to Oliver.

“We wanted to do something a bit different and a bit challenging so we settled on swimming the distance of crossing the English Channel,” he said.

“As it turned out, that was too easy so we did twice that distance.

“We’re proud we’ve raised over £2,000 and we’re looking at what other things we can do to raise money.”

Oliver suffered the serious health scare just before Christmas when he felt dizzy in the shower and collapsed in the bathroom.

He was rushed to hospital, where doctors told his shocked mother that he had suffered a stroke when a blood clot blocked a previously-undetected hole in the heart.

“You don’t expect to have a stroke at 18 years old,” said Oliver.

“It was scary and I didn’t know what was happening at the time.

“I had to be in hospital for five days and off school for three weeks.

“I still have to take a pill every day and I may have to have keyhole surgery to close the hole.”

Oliver said he had been touched to learn of his mates’ fund-raising plans and had been keen to join in himself.

“I managed to swim a mile and I’m not really much of a swimmer,” he said.

Teacher Nicola Thewlis said she thought the students’ efforts should be publicised because “not only does it demonstrate their compassion and thoughtfulness, but it also raises awareness for the charity”.