By Glen Robertson
A school teacher from Newton Aycliffe described being a torchbearer on the Olympic torch route as “one of the best days of my life”.
Jon Tait, Assistant Head at Woodham CTC and Head Coach of the Woodham Warriors American football team, carried the flame through Stockton on the same day the torch visited Newton Aycliffe.
Mr Tait, from School Aycliffe, told Aycliffe Today: “It was absolutely incredible. The people of Stockton turned out in their droves. The crowd was 10 deep in places.
“It was a truly humbling experience and one of the best days of my life.”
Mr Tait watched his student Richie Howe carry the torch through Darlington on his iPhone while on a torchbearers’ bus before setting off for his own ‘moment to shine’.
“It was a surreal moment,” he said. “I was sat watching one of my students carrying the same flame I was going to carry half an hour later.
“When I got off the bus in Stockton I was met by a rugby scrum of people trying to take my photo.
“I had a photo taken with my family while I waited for the flame to come to me, and when it did the crowd were incredible.
“It was the best experience of my life, but it went too quick. I wish it could have lasted much longer.”
Mr Tait spent the night celebrating with friends and family at his home with his children running around the house with his torch, re-enacting their dad’s moment.
Four other Newtonians carried the torch on the same day.
Kieran Maxwell, a 13-year-old who lost his left tibia as a result of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma Kieran, tripped while holding the torch but recovered to complete his stretch to a huge ovation in Bishop Auckland.
Chris Kerr and Sam Dawson both carried the flame through Billingham, while John McGuckin was a torchbearer in Shildon.
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