Brave Ryan goes on adventure of a lifetime

LITTLE Ryan Cottrell returned from his Christmas trip to Lapland and said: "It was everything I dreamed it would be."

This week Ryan and his family spoke about their wonderful winter break and applauded Observer readers for making the trip possible.

The family left their home in Carter Street, Accrington, for Rovaniemi in Finland early on Christmas Eve morning and spent three action-packed days meeting Santa, riding on reindeers and playing in the snow.

"It was the best Christmas ever," said Ryan, eight.

"I really loved Lapland, meeting Santa and having reindeer rides. It was so good I want to go back some day. Everything was fun and I can't decide which was my favourite bit, it was all really enjoyable."

For Ryan, his sister Amy, four, and parents Amanda and Shaun, the fun began almost immediately on arrival in Finland.

Amanda said: "It was a busy start. We went straight from the airport to get kitted out in all our gear to cope with the freezing conditions and snow."

The family then enjoyed an "In Search of Santa" trip, and to Ryan's delight, found him.

Ryan said: "It was brilliant, Santa gave me a teddy and asked if I liked last year's gifts.

"He was really busy because it was Christmas Eve."

The family returned to their hotel and settled in after their long day.

Ryan added: "On Christmas Day we had a reindeer safari where we went on lots of rides in the snow.

"It was very cold, much colder than Accrington. It all went by so quickly because it was so much fun. We had a festive dinner at the hotel, which was a nice place to stay."

And Ryan, who was born with the distressing genetic skin condition Epidermolysis Bullosa, explained how the remainder of his time was spent.

"We met a Finnish shaman who marked our heads and told us all humans come back to earth as reindeers. And we had snow-mobile rides and also went on Husky rides. The dogs are really strong and energetic. It was a brilliant holiday and everyone was very kind to give money to the appeal."

Observer readers donated more than £16,000 to send Ryan on his dream break.