A devoted father has been branded a 'super dad' after creating a birthday celebration that his train-obsessed autistic son will never forget.
Young Harrison Maguire is completely obsessed with trains, so much so that when asked what he wanted to do to mark his birthday, he replied, “just go on the train", despite being given tonnes of options.
But his dad, Charlie Maguire, was determined to make 10-year-old Harrison's big day a memorable one, so created a fun hide and seek game, complete with clues, on the London Underground.
The 29-year-father spent days creating the game, which involved going from station to station in search of clues and Harrison, who is said to be "amazing with geography", was thrilled.
What do you think to Harrison's hide and seek game? Let us know in the comments...
The clue-seeking father and son team set off from Rainham, close to both Charlie’s home in Dagenham and Colchester, where Harrison and his mum live.
The first stop was East London's West Ham, with Charlie having travelled ahead and given staff the very first clue. Here, young Harrison was asked what you’d use to wrap a birthday present as well as what cars drive on, with the answer taking them to Bow Road.
From thereon, the keen train fan had to work out a number of other clues which took him to stations such as London Bridge, Canary Wharf, Tower Hill, Victoria, Holborn, and Tottenham Court Road.
Charlie believes the clue cracking day out helped to build up Harrison’s confidence, with his son living with both autism and ADHD.
He said: "He has autism and ADHD so he struggles a little bit at school but is now getting the help he needs. He’s amazing with geography, it’s amazing really, he knows the capital of every single country.
"Now he’s moved onto trains and train stations. I travel quite a lot and two years ago we went to Disneyland Paris and we went on a double-decker train. Now he loves the London Underground.
"It was really good for his independence. He had to take us to the right platform, work out what train we had to get on and where we had to go. He was so happy about it. He’s still talking about it now."
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After the game of hide and seek, father and son stopped off for a spot of lunch in Canary Wharf and later enjoyed dinner out in the West End, where they were joined by Harrison’s stepmother.
For his birthday present, Harrison was gifted a canvas lit up with underground stations, mapping out exactly where he and his dad had been on their special day out.
According to Charlie, the gift has proven to be a huge success, with the 10-year-old having since "hung his train station canvas on his bedroom wall and doesn’t sleep without it".
Charlie added: "Kids are so on their phones nowadays and I try and do the opposite. I take him away once or twice a year.
"His mum has put him into boxing classes. He was very introverted but the last year he’s started to come out of his shell and get on well with other kids. I grew up with no dad myself so I try to give him everything I never had".
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