Lewis Hamilton sends Mercedes car to five-year-old Harry Shaw’s house after being inspired to Spanish GP win
Terminally ill Harry Shaw sent Hamilton a video at the weekend that the five-time world champion credited with inspiring him to victory in Barcelona, and returned the favour by giving him his trophy and race gloves
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Five-year-old Harry Shaw received a surprise on Monday as Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton arranged for one of his Mercedes to be sent to his home, along with team merchandising and the trophy that he claimed in winning Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, after the terminally ill youngster was recently given a week to live.
Harry, who has a rare bone cancer that is terminal, left his home for the first time in three weeks on Monday to get up close with one of Hamilton’s Mercedes cars, having been the inspiration behind the five-time world champion’s victory in Barcelona last weekend.
A video message of Harry was sent to Hamilton on Sunday morning, which he made reference to after the race and put wheels in motion to doing something special for him.
The touching tribute has now generated a bond between the two, as Harry “now thinks that Lewis is his absolute best friend, which, for a five-year-old boy, is amazing”, said Harry’s father James.
He added: "It has provided us with a big boost, and a big smile...tremendously difficult time in our lives.”
Some of Hamilton’s team crew flew straight out of Barcelona in Sunday night in order to take the car to Harry’s home in Redhill, Surrey, and the race-winner used his press conference to reveal just how much Harry’s message had touched him.
"Today, I was just super-inspired by this kid that sent me a message. He was my spirit angel,” said Hamilton.
He added in an Instagram post that accompanied the video from Harry decked out in Mercedes gear: “Harry, you don’t know how much this message means to me buddy. Thank you so much, you are my inspiration today Harry.
“I will try to make you proud. You are such a strong boy, I wish I was as strong as you, I wanted the world to see how strong you are and ask everyone to send their best wishes and prayers to you during this hard time. Sending you love Harry. God bless you. Your friend, Lewis #keepfighting #nevergiveup #wewinandwelosetogether.”
Harry’s love of cars was revealed by his father, as despite being just five years old, he was quizzing the Mercedes mechanics about the car’s exhaust pipe system.
"He loves cars, and although he is frail, he was asking about the exhaust pipe,” said James.
"He is very inquisitive, so that is typical of Harry, asking questions and getting involved. Mercedes have taken us to a much better place in a dark time."
Harry was given a week to live by doctors on 9 April but is still battling Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer that mainly affects children or young people. A JustGiving page has been set up by his family to raise funds for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity to continue research into bone cancer, which can be found here.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments