I'm humbled, says Olympic torch nominee who helped bus tragedy family

Honoured: Kevin Craig, from Clapham, with Sarah Hope and Heather Mills
12 April 2012

A man who helped a family recover from a bus crash in which one member was killed and two were badly injured said today he was "humbled" to be nominated to carry the Olympic torch.

Kevin Craig played down the huge help he has given to the family of Christopher Hope, from Mortlake, who he has known since university, saying: "It's what you do for your mate."

Mr Hope's family was devastated when, in 2007, his mother-in-law, Elizabeth Panton, 65, was killed, his daughter Pollyanna, then two, lost part of a leg and his wife, Sarah, had a limb crushed when they were hit by a bus at Mortlake bus station.

The driver was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of grievous bodily harm.

Mr Craig, 40, helped Mrs Hope, now 39, and her twin sister, Victoria, set up Elizabeth's Legacy of Hope, a charity which funds prosthetic limbs for children around the world.

He is also helping to develop a special prosthetic limb for Pollyanna.

The charity is backed by Joanna Lumley, the twins' second cousin, and Heather Mills.

Mr Craig, from Clapham, also used his knowledge of local government after nine years as a Lambeth Labour councillor to help the family secure care for Mrs Hope's autistic elder brother, Henry, who had been looked after by Mrs Panton.

Mrs Hope said: "When my mother died we were all bereft and we still are but she had been the sole carer for my autistic brother. Kevin has helped our family with Henry so much.

"He has helped our family to set up Elizabeth's Legacy of Hope, a charity which provides limbs to thousands of children in developing countries. Without Kevin's support this charity would never have happened.

"He is helping us do research to develop a limb with an ankle and toes that move, so Pollyanna can do ballet like her friends. This leg will help all other limbless people to lead a normal, active life.

"Kevin has helped our family tirelessly and he is calm and kind and very deserving to carry the Olympic torch."

Mr Craig, a father-of-two, who runs a Lambeth-based lobbying and PR firm, said of Mrs Hope: "She and her family are very special to me. They went through a very terrible accident and I just did what I could do to help - it's what you do for your mate.

"Sarah's so much more worthy to carry the flame than I am, all I did was get her charity off the ground and give it some money.

"I'm a born and bred Londoner so carrying the torch would be an unbelievable honour beyond words. I'm genuinely humbled."

Evening Standard readers are being asked to nominate extraordinary people to carry the Olympic torch who make the capital a better place in which to live and work.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in