Mother plans to sue a primary school after her wheelchair bound son, eight, is BANNED from taking part in swimming lessons over ‘health and safety fears’ – WBNews

Nadine Leighton, 40, with her son Tristan, eight, who has been told he can’t attend swimming lessons with his class A wheelchair-bound boy has been told he can’t take part in swimming lessons with his classmates because of health and safety fears. Tristan Leighton, eight-years-old, has been told he has to sit behind while his peers take swimming classes as part of the PE programme. His mother Nadine, a nurse, sats he is being discriminated against and argues he would benefit hugely from the lessons. The pool at his primary school in Crowborough, East Sussex, does not have wheelchair access and is not fitted with a hoist. Mrs Leighton, a mum of three from Crowborough in East Sussex, said: ‘Tristan loves swimming and he is sat in a classroom without his friends. ‘He gets pain and spasms and swimming is the best exercise for him as he is free of all his contraptions. ‘The pool is at his school and is used by other schools and for private lessons. It is used by a lot of people which in my mind makes even more sense for them to spend the money.’ Mrs Leighton, a former cancer nurse who worked in the NHS for 20 years, has been corresponding with East Sussex County Council about making improvements to the pool. Tristan was born at 27 weeks with a bleed on his brain. He has a form of cerebral palsy called spastic dipelgia and it affects the movement of his arms and…more detail