Our pictures of 10-year-old Thomas Partington playing out with his pals were heartwarming.

The fact that Thomas was in a wheelchair seemed irrelevant as he grinned happily surrounded by his friends.

But that wheelchair was what enabled Thomas to be in the thick of it all, not just watching on the sidelines. He has waited two years for it and his parents have fought long and hard to get it for him on the NHS.

Thomas's mother says she does not believe they should have had to fight for that wheelchair. It should have been given as an automatic right, MP Ruth Kelly agrees with her and so do we.

We are pleased for Thomas can enjoy life more in his new, powered wheelchair. And we hope other children who have similar needs do not have as long to wait before those needs are met.

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