A Thai boxer from County Durham has launched a fundraising drive to help achieve his dreams of representing Team GB at the European Championships in Turkey.
Aidan K Forster, from Ferryhill, hopes to raise enough money to fly out to Instanbul for the IFMA Muay Thai European Championships that start on February 15 after he was selected to fight for Team GB.
This is the third time Aidan, 20, has been selected to represent his country after first fighting for the team as a junior in the IFMA World Championship in Antalya, Turkey, when he was 17.
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Then, as a senior, he won bronze at the IFMA Baltic Open in Vilnius, Lithuania - but his hopes of continuing his winning streak rest on him raising £2,500 to help fund the trip.
Aidan said: "This is my dream; to fight for my country, to represent my gym and local town, it's a massive thing for me.
"In 2016 I was starting to think I want to be on this team and then in 2019, I got selected as a junior to go out to Turkey.
"It was a massive eye-opener to the level of Thai boxing around the world. You are fighting the best juniors in the world, there's no doubt about that.
"Then I was selected as a senior to go to Lithuania. I was the youngest and the least experienced but I came back with a bronze medal.
"I just want to fight my best, medals are what you want but just getting on the team is a massive achievement in itself.
"As long as I put my heart and soul into every fight then I'll be happy."
Aidan has been training in Muay Thai since he was five years old at the same gym, Phoenix Thai Boxing in Shildon, under coach Gary Mcallister.
The dedicated athlete juggles studying Sport and Exercise Science at Durham University and training at the gym six days a week.
But his determination and love for the sport keeps him going after he first developed an interest in Muay Thai from his mam.
He explained: "I've been doing it for about 15 years since I was five years old at Pheonix Boxing and I'm still there to this day.
"My mam did it for fitness and that's how I got into it and my sister got into it from there. My sister competes too so we sort of carried the sport on from my mam.
"It teaches you discipline and respect. I like doing different sports to everyone else, it teaches you about different aspects of life.
"It's not just a sport in my eyes, it's my life. I've lived and breathed it for 15 years, I don't think I could walk away from the sport."
Aidan said the support from his village has been "amazing" and thanked everyone for getting behind him.
He added: "I've had so much support, and people are stopping to ask me how training is going, it feels really good to have that support and be recognised in that way."
If you would like to donate to Aidan's Go Fund Me page, you can do so here.
