Red Lodge Nostalgia - Teenager nominated as Olympic torch bearer after road accident

In today's nostalgia we look back to 2012 when a teenager was nominated to be an Olympic torch bearer by his mum because she was proud of how he coped after a road accident.

Karen Bettoney’s 13-year-old son, Aaron, was to carry the torch in Aylsham, north Norfolk.

Three years previously, Aaron was hit by a large car near his home in Red Lodge, near Newmarket, and suffered a severe head injury which left him unconscious with a fractured skull.

The East Anglian Air Ambulance flew him and his father David to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

Karen decided to volunteer with the EAAA. She said: "The got him to the hospital in something silly like four minutes. I had to go by road and it was a nightmare."

Aaron had to relearn how to walk and did not return to school full time for three months.

Though he was proud of being chosen and was running a mile a day to make sure he was fit enough, he was surprised at the interest in it.

"I didn't really think people would be impressed because it's something that happens every four years," he said. "My friends are always asking when I’m doing it and where. They want me to take the torch into school."

His sister and two brothers were to take time off school to see him run.