HIS astonishing courage is finally paying off, and today Lol Hare is counting the days until he can return home. Just five months after the speedway star was paralysed from the chest down in a crash at Newport, Gwent, doctors have said he can aim to be back in Ipswich by the end of October – two months earlier than anyone had believed possible.

By Tracey Sparling

HIS astonishing courage is finally paying off, and today Lol Hare is counting the days until he can return home.

Just five months after the speedway star was paralysed from the chest down in a crash at Newport, Gwent, doctors have said he can aim to be back in Ipswich by the end of October – two months earlier than anyone had believed possible.

Determined to defy medical opinion that he would never walk again Lol's dream for now is to sit at home in an easy chair in front of the tv with his dog Charly curled at his feet.

Spurred on by that dream, Lol's determination has driven him to seek challenges in the gym at Stoke Mandeville Hospital several times a day.

Feeling has returned to muscles that were once rendered useless by the accident, as he pushes himself to the limit.

He has even passed a driving test in an adapted car, been given a 'going-home' date of October 25 to work towards, and this week he regained movement in two more fingers on his right hand.

See tonight's Evening Star for Lol's remarkable story…