Day in the life of Sam Elliott

Just after 5pm a week last Saturday, 13 year old Sam Elliott was still in full celebration mode. His beloved Brighton & Hove Albion had come from 1-0 down to beat Fulham 2-1 at the AMEX Stadium….

“I’m very happy right now, I was bit worried, but not at the end, good result!” he told me.

With his right hand, Sam then pushed forward the yellow golf ball joystick that points his power wheelchair in the direction he wants it to go. Time to go home with his dad Pete.

Six hours earlier I had met Sam and Pete at their home. Sam was already wearing his Brighton shirt, while his scarf and gloves – all blue and white of course – were on the kitchen table. Match day is a special day, but as Pete Elliott kept reminding me, what was special about taking his son to a football match was that it has become normal. Just what many other sons and dads do on a Saturday afternoon.

Sam has muscular dystrophy and to move around requires the use of an impressive power wheelchair. There are many other complications from Sam’s condition which his incredible family deal with, but bringing joy through a shared love of football has become a regular, normal, everyday occurrence in the Elliott household. 

Sam and Pete are season ticket holders at Brighton, two seats in the Upper East Stand at the Amex Stadium. So how does Sam’s day work?

As Pete explained to me, once Sam has woken up, washed and dressed, the excitement begins. For home matches at Saturday kicking off at 3pm, Sam and Pete will leave their home at Goring-on-Sea in Sussex about 12:30pm for the 30 to 40 minute drive to the Amex Stadium.

“You just have to leave a little more time for things,” said Pete. He pulls up in a car park that Brighton & Hove Albion have for dedicated disabled spaces.

It’s not just the size of those spaces that is important, it’s where the car park is that matters. It’s on level ground with the stadium which for Sam is about …

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