4:48am Friday 5th October 2007
By Charlotte Newton
THE ENGLAND rugby team has offered to donate a signed shirt for an auction to raise money for a policeman who was seriously injured in a rugby match.
Pitsea police officer Arron Williams, 25, from Thundersley, was playing rugby for Basildon First XV on September 15, when he suffered serious spinal injuries after a tackle in the final minute of the match.
More than 400 friends and family set-up the Arron Williams Trust Fund to raise money for medical equipment Mr Williams may require when he leaves hospital.
Donations have flooded in and so far more than £1,000 has been raised for the popular and talented sportsman.
Now his friends and family have decided to hold an auction at Talk, on Lucy Road, Southend, on November 13, from 8pm until 1am.
A signed rugby shirt from the England team and football shirts from Premiership clubs are just some of the items expected to be put up for auction.
Mr Williams has been moved to a concentrated rehabilitation ward in the Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Buckinghamshire, which has been the national centre for treating spinal injuries since 1944.
He has movement in his right wrist, but if his condition does not improve he faces life as a tetraplegic.
However, relative and trust fund co-ordinator Sarah Chamberlain, 33, said: "Arron only has movement above the neck and in his wrist, but he's still being a shining superstar. He's still cracking jokes and staying upbeat. He's amazing."
For more information about how you can show your support for Mr Williams, or to make a donation to the fund, e-mail:sarahchamberlainuk @yahoo.co.uk
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