A LIMITED edition print has gone on sale in Tavistock to raise funds to help a young Indian boy with an artificial leg
The ten-year-old boy, named Parth, was rescued from the rubble of a building when the state of Gujarat in India was devastated by an earthquake in January last year.
The Okehampton-based Rapid UK rescue team pulled him from the rubble of a collapsed block of flats where he had been lying trapped for three days next to his dead mother and brother. He became trapped when an earthquake devastated the town of Bhuji.
One of Parth's legs was so badly crushed that it had to be amputated. As a homeless amputee he had little hope of leading a normal life or later finding work in his poverty-stricken homeland.
Plymouth paramedic Nick Spence and his 12-strong Rapid UK rescue team launched an appeal and managed to get Parth back to the UK to be fitted with an artificial limb.
However, further funds are needed for him to fly here for ongoing treatment and fittings each year until he is fully grown.
Nick's father, popular Cornish artist Les Spence, contributed by producing a painting from which the limited edition print has been made for the latest part of the charity appeal.
The proceeds from sales of the picture, which is now on sale at Mayflower Galleries in West Street, Tavistock, will go to the appeal to help bring Parth to the UK for more treatment.
Gallery owner Tony Whitehead said: 'We have sold Les Spence's original paintings for many years and are delighted to have an opportunity to help this cause.
'The image shows a young boy flying a kite on a beach in the sunshine framed by the doorway of a derelict house and conveys a message of hope for the future'.
The print, at a cost of £30, is signed by the artist and is mounted ready for framing.
Parth returned to the UK in May for a new leg to be fitted. He has grown three inches in the last year, and has begun riding his bicycle and playing cricket again.
With loving care from his father, Predeep, he seems to be recovering well from his traumatic experience.