If you’re walking through Leeds city centre this bank holiday weekend, you may very well have been nipped by kid-friendly dinosaur Richie the Raptor.
Of course, he’s not a real dinosaur – no matter how many children and shoppers gleefully scream or break out into bursts of tears in Briggate as Richie nips them. Richie is a hand puppet, joyously being brought to life by former wrestler Gil Elkin.
Gil, 36, loves his job but he got there after multiple tragedies, heartache and tears. Six years ago, Gil was a successful wrestler based in Blackpool but that radically changed after suffering family losses which stopped him pursuing his "passion".
