LISTEN: Paralympic Games star Abby Kane given a hero’s welcome in Largs

Teenage Paralympic Games star Abby Kane was given a hero’s welcome as she returned home to Largs from Rio.

Speaking exclusively to Clyde News the 13 year old swimmer revealed that she’s going to go straight back to her studies at Largs Academy today, and she’s already chipped her silver medal!

Abby posed for photos with pupils who were waiting for her outside the school gates before a piper led her down the street to her home where neighbours had hung flags and bunting outside their houses and even wrapped a tree trunk in foil to celebrate her success in the S13 100m backstroke on Saturday night.

Abby told Clyde News:

She added: “It was very nice. The piping from the neighbour, seeing all the banners balloons and flags. It was all so welcoming. It’s like a shock, it’s lovely!”

Despite an exhausting overnight flight from Brazil and most of the next day spent travelling back to her Ayrshire home Abby says she won’t be taking any time to get over the jet lag: “I think I’d really like to go back to school today because I’ve missed my friends. I’ve been on face time but it’s not the same as seeing them.

“One of them started crying because she’s missed me so much and the other started giving me big hugs. And another gave me into trouble because I’ve chipped my medal!”

Abby was proudly wearing her silver medal around her neck for her homecoming, but she won’t be letting it out of her gasp after her mascot teddy was stolen at the pool in Rio while she was having photos taken following the ceremony on Saturday night.

So far it has not been found, and Paralympic officials haven’t offered to replace it.

“I’m just so gutted about my mascot being taken,” she said. “It was such a shock because I was surrounded by a lot of people”.

Asked if it meant as much to her as her medal she replied: “It’s definitely up there because I’m quite a teddy person, and it’s a special teddy.”

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