Pupils at two Luton schools had a special treat on Thursday afternoon when Hatters club captain Tom Lockyer dropped in to meet them.
After a morning spent working hard in the Brache gym as he continues his rehab from a second ankle operation, the Wales international went first to Crawley Green Infant School where the ‘Lockyer’ class was waiting to welcome him!
At the start of the academic year, the school decided to rename its classes after influential people and they let the children and staff decide who they would like to put forward.
Tom made the cut out of a long list of people, which also included Attenborough, Thunberg, Turin and many more, with Kenilworth Stand season ticket holder and teacher Mr Rowlands claiming him for his Year 2 class.
After round of applause as he walked in, the children then had a Q&A with Tom where they pulled some brilliant questions out of the bag - along with some prompting from Mr Rowlands, who proudly showed his picture with Locks from the pre-season friendly against Ipswich at Colchester in 2023.
Tom then travelled across town to Challney High School for Boys, where he met all the boys from the school football teams.
He kicked off by presenting the Year 7 team with their medals for winning the Luton Schools Sports Association Cup, beating Queen Elizabeth School in the final.
He then took part in a Q&A with the boys, with some great information shared not only about his career, but also when asked for something that others might not know about him, he told the story of when he injured himself on a ski jump while on a family holiday aged 14.
"I landed on my side and thought I'd maybe cracked a rib," he said. "I went to the doctor and he immediately called for an air ambulance. He told my dad that if they tried to take me to hospital by road, I wouldn't make it. I'd ruptured my spleen!"
Tom, of course, has more recently been campaigning for the British Heart Foundation and naturally answered questions on his recovery from the cardiac arrest he suffered on the pitch at Bournemouth in December 2023.
It was pertinent because pupils at the school have recently been learning CPR, with the target of every child knowing how to save a life by the time they leave in Year 11.
Like Locks and the Challney Boys, you too can learn in 15 minutes with the Revivr tool HERE.
