Leeds brothers to '˜Swim the Channel' for St Gemma's Hospice

Ethan and Curtis Mewse, aged six and eight, will swim 21 miles over 12 weeks in local pools as a thank you to hospice staff who cared for their grandad Allen Knaggs.

The boys, from Barwick in Elmet, spent hours with their granddad playing and building things together before he died aged 68 in the hospice in 2015.

Curtis said: “I just wanted to say thank you to all the kind people at the hospice who took care of granddad so well during the last few weeks of his life. My family really appreciate it and my brother and I want to raise more money by doing what we can do best – swimming. I know grandad would be proud of us and I hope he’s watching and cheering us on from his star.”

Curtis has raised money for the hospice before. In 2015, aged six, he swam the 21 miles over seven weeks to raise more than £1,400 for the charity. His aquatic exploits were featured on TV star’s Paul O’Grady’s tea time chat show. Last year Curtis also raised a further £400 for the hospice in memory of his granddad.

Grandmother Susan Knaggs said: “Curtis and his granddad had developed a very strong bond and if granddad couldn’t build it no one could. The day the boys lost their granddad they lost a very special person in their lives that nobody can replace.”

Younger brother Ethan is a newcomer to swimming marathons and hadn’t swum more than two lengths without a rest until a few weeks ago.

The brothers’ fundraising page can be found at www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/Swim3

You can also watch a video of Curtis talking about his fundraising swims at www.facebook.com/st.g.hospice/videos/1491579117541866/.

And you can also sign up for the swimming challenge here: ow.ly/cViR309rsmj.