Ben
24th September 2007, 08:05 PM
Nice little heartwarmer:
Friends restore Lotus in secret
A sports car enthusiast who suffered a mini stroke while restoring a Lotus Esprit was amazed when online friends finished the work for him in secret.
Simon Pritchard, 36, from Abergavenny, had been in the process of rebuilding the 25-year-old car when he fell ill, reports the BBC.
When members of the Lotus Esprit online forum website heard, they donated money and time to fix it. The original 18-month project costing £25,000 actually took his friends just five weeks to complete.
Mr Pritchard had several mini strokes after developing Reiter's Syndrome - a form of arthritis which develops as a reaction to infections in the body.
As part of his research, he logged onto a website which allowed people to get help and advice in the restoration of such cars.
Andy Betts, from Bexley, Greater London, who runs the website said: "He was trying to do up the car even though he was quite unwell.
"One day I phoned him up and his wife said he was in hospital and I thought that there had to be something we could do to help him."
So while Mr Pritchard recovered in hospital, Mr Betts set up an area on the website which Mr Pritchard was denied access to and went about recruiting help from the 3,800 members.
Offers of money, car parts and time soon came flooding in and so with the help of Mr Pritchard's wife Kelly, the group organised to have the car taken to a garage in nearby Caerphilly for restoration.
Over the next five weeks, more than 2,000 hours of work were put in by people who travelled from as far as Hertfordshire, Cheshire and Kent.
"I can't even begin to thank all the people who were involved. It just restores your faith in people and shows that there is good in everybody," he said.
- Ananova (http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2410765.html'menu=news.quirkies.heartwarmers), 12/07/07
Friends restore Lotus in secret
A sports car enthusiast who suffered a mini stroke while restoring a Lotus Esprit was amazed when online friends finished the work for him in secret.
Simon Pritchard, 36, from Abergavenny, had been in the process of rebuilding the 25-year-old car when he fell ill, reports the BBC.
When members of the Lotus Esprit online forum website heard, they donated money and time to fix it. The original 18-month project costing £25,000 actually took his friends just five weeks to complete.
Mr Pritchard had several mini strokes after developing Reiter's Syndrome - a form of arthritis which develops as a reaction to infections in the body.
As part of his research, he logged onto a website which allowed people to get help and advice in the restoration of such cars.
Andy Betts, from Bexley, Greater London, who runs the website said: "He was trying to do up the car even though he was quite unwell.
"One day I phoned him up and his wife said he was in hospital and I thought that there had to be something we could do to help him."
So while Mr Pritchard recovered in hospital, Mr Betts set up an area on the website which Mr Pritchard was denied access to and went about recruiting help from the 3,800 members.
Offers of money, car parts and time soon came flooding in and so with the help of Mr Pritchard's wife Kelly, the group organised to have the car taken to a garage in nearby Caerphilly for restoration.
Over the next five weeks, more than 2,000 hours of work were put in by people who travelled from as far as Hertfordshire, Cheshire and Kent.
"I can't even begin to thank all the people who were involved. It just restores your faith in people and shows that there is good in everybody," he said.
- Ananova (http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2410765.html'menu=news.quirkies.heartwarmers), 12/07/07