Bushey resident gets glimpse of 2012 Paralympic Flame (From Watford Observer)

Bushey resident Lara Bloom sees torch she will carry for London 2012 Games Paralympic Torch Relay

8:30am Sunday 27th May 2012 in News By Amie Mulderrig, Features Writer

A woman from Bushey has been given a glimpse of the torch she will carry this summer for the London 2012 Games Paralympic Torch Relay.

Lara Bloom has been nominated as one of 100 Sainsbury’s customers to carry the flame after an in-store nomination at her local store in Watford.

She was given a chance to see the torch she will carry at an unveiling ceremony on Tuesday, May 15.

The supermarket is the standalone Paralympic sponsor, and 100 of its customers and 45 members of staff are set to take part in the London 2012 Games Paralympic Torch Relay.

Ms Bloom, who was born with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), was nominated for the relay because of her commitment to raising awareness of the disorder.

EDS causes her bones, skin and organs to be easily damaged and she was not diagnosed with the condition until she was 24.

Last year she became the first person with EDS to complete London Marathon despite breaking her foot after 13 miles, raising £10,500 for EDS UK.

The 31-year-old said: “I am so excited to have been nominated to carry the Paralympic Flame.

“I’m really honoured to be taking part in a momentous occasion for both the United Kingdom and Bushey and can’t wait to carry the Paralympic Flame.”

Once the Flame has been lit, it will be carried by Lara and the other torchbearers, on a very special 24 hour relay from Stoke Mandeville in Aylesbury, the spiritual home of the Paralympic Movement, to the Olympic Park in Stratford, East London, where the flame will be used to officially open the Paralympic Games.

The relay will take place over 24 hours from August 28 to August 29.