The communities of Clunderwen and Llandysilio teamed up this week to wish Jacob Thomas well as he prepared to leave home en route to the Olympic village and the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Jacob, who is competing in the BC3 Boccia as an individual and in the pairs, will begin his quest for medals tomorrow (Sunday September 2nd) and the local community showed their admiration for him with an impromptu open air demonstration of support on Thursday.

Jacob, who suffers from duchenne muscular dystrophy, was airlifted  to hospital and diagnosed with liver and kidney failure in January 2011, but made a brilliant recovery in time to make the Team GB squad.

T-shirts and posters had been printed to show how proud the local people are of his success and a pot of gold paint has been bought in readiness to paint the local post box.

Jacob travelled to Bath on Saturday and many of his friends lined the streets of Clunderwen to wish him well, and a number of those present are travelling to London to support Jacob in person.

Jacob has also received good luck wishes from the Ty Hafan hospice, where he and his family have stayed and received support from.

Hayley Mason, a family support practitioner at the hospice said: "Everyone at Ty Hafan is so proud of Jacob and all that he has achieved. His determination, perseverance and strength of character has obviously played a big role in his success, along with the fantastic support from his family. 

"We recognise it takes huge effort and intense training to reach such heights and make his dream a reality”.