Sailing gives visually impaired child 'another sense of life'

When Tadiwa was just one years old, he was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

His mother, Vennisa, had noticed he was losing weight, and after he was eventually sent for an MRI scan, doctors discovered he had Optic Pathway Glioma, which cannot be removed.

Since then, the 12-year-old from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, has undergone countless hospital appointments, chemotherapy and proton beam therapy, which he says led to missing "so many birthdays" and leaving him visually impaired.

But it has not diminished his positivity, and since he was eight, with the help of the BBC's Children in Need, he has attended specialist sailing lessons with the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, giving him "another sense of life", he says.

Vennisa says Tadiwa is such "a funny boy", adding: "When he walks in the room, he makes everyone smile.

"He was an easy baby, and then after his first birthday, he started losing weight."

When it was discovered that it was from a brain tumour, she says it impacted everything: his body temperature, his vision and "every hormone in the body".

But it does not stop him.

"I have a go at everything", he says.

This means growing vegetables on his family's allotment, drumming, playing the piano and guitar, acting and taking on the roles of Robin Hood and Mrs Trunchbull in a production of Matilda.

He says it was so good as he could be "evil and funny".

Since he was introduced to the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, he has gone every year.

"I was so scared; it was like stepping into a whole new world," Tadiwa says.

"It has helped me get another sense of life, given me a sense of belonging.

"The hospital was my second home; I lived there, I've been through so much, I'm just shocked I'm here."

He says it is "amazing" that the tumour is now under control, but his eyesight will be impacted forever.

"Life is short, and you should just live it," he adds.

He says sailing has also brought him many new friends.

"Everyone is in the same boat as you - literally," he jokes.

Vennisa adds: "We are so proud of him; he's such a resilient boy, he's so happy".

"He's the one who's kept us going."

To raise funds and awareness of Children in Need, he appeared on the BBC's TV show Countryfile, undertaking a charity ramble in the Peak District.

He even got to meet his hero, Dame Ellen MacArthur, whom he called "the boss".

They canoed across a reservoir in a mini race, and he beat her.

He says he just wants to show everyone that if "your life stops when you have treatment, you only live once, so be as positive as you can be".

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