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Oska Winner — Three Year-Old Raises £1,000 For Life-Saving Equipment With Diving Challenge

Oska before and after his fundraising challenge. Credit: Tez Morris.

Ryde's Safe Harbour Swimming and Hydrotherapy Centre raised enough money to purchase a much-needed defibrillator — courtesy of a three-year-old who undertook a diving challenge.

Oska Giden-Burr, aged three, who has been swimming at Safe Harbour since he was ten-weeks old, set himself a challenge to raise the funds required for the life-saving equipment.

Oska decided to take on a ‘ten sinker challenge’ where he would jump into the pool and swim down to the bottom in order to collect each of the ten sinkers — a term used for weighted toys which can be used to to train underwater swimming.

With support from his Mum and swimming instructor Theodora, and in tandem with other fundraising activities over the festive period, the full £1,100 target was raised.

A spokesperson for the centre said:

"Not only did Oska complete his challenge he absolutely smashed it! He retrieved all ten sinkers with tremendous enthusiasm and determination.

"The team at Safe Harbour is extremely thankful to Oska and his family for making this happen and we couldn’t be prouder of his incredible skills and passion for swimming.

"In addition, we'd like to give a special thank you to Wendy Seaman, Nicola Lovegrove, Lisa Warder and all our wonderful customers for their fantastic support."

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