Cambridgeshire couple adopt a disabled child

Anglia TV meet a 'Thalidomide boy' and his remarkable adoptive parents; all the subject of a new book and adapted BBC TV 'Play of the Week'.

Thalidomide baby' Terry, born without arms and with limited use of his lower limbs, has been adopted by Cambridgeshire couple Hazel and Len Wiles. Adoptive father Len, a technical wiz, has created a “Supercar” for Terry, a wheelchair based on the design of a forklift truck, enabling Terry to adjust his height and move around freely. Journalists Marjorie Wallace and Michael Robson are due to publish a book about Terry, titled “On Giant's Shoulders”.

Wallace and Robson's 1976 book “On Giant's Shoulders: the Story of Terry Wiles” was later adapted for television, airing on BBC2 as the 'Play of the Week' in 1979. In the television film Terry Wiles played himself and starred alongside accomplished actors Judi Dench and Bryan Pringle who portrayed Terry's adoptive parents Hazel and Len.