Well-known Narberth councillor, Henry Langen, has got a new set of wheels.
Thanks to his wide circle of friends, Henry, who suffers from muscular dystrophy, is now able to enjoy more freedom and independence in a brand new state-of-the-art electric wheelchair.
After two unsuccessful bids for funding to the National Health Service to help pay for the new chair, friends of Henry, of the town's Church Street, rallied round, and in six months have raised £15,500 to pay for the chair, which has been specially modified for him and will not only give him greater mobility, but will also improve his circulation.
Made by Balder UK just outside Oslo in Norway, the chair is the first of its kind in Pembrokeshire.
Among those involved with the fund-raising has been Henry's long-time friend, Tenby born actor Josh Richards, who raised over £10,000 by performing his one-man show 'Playing Burton' after the main play at Stratford and by helping to sell, to the highest bidder, a framed painting by fellow Royal Shakespeare Company thespian, Sir Anthony Sher.
Framed by the RSC's Armourers, the painting, a self-portrait of Sher playing 'Domitian Caesar' in the Roman Actor by Philip Massinger, was sold to an American bidder.
The fund was also swelled by £4,500 following Henry's 50th birthday in September when friends gave donations instead of presents, while a further £800 was collected by some of his younger friends who held a raffle at his birthday party at the Plas Hyfryd Hotel.
"I am just so lucky to have such wonderful friends," Henry told the Observer during a presentation afternoon on Tuesday.
"Not everybody is as fortunate as me to have been able to raise this amount of money in such a short space of time," he continued.
"There has been no contribution from the NHS at all, which I am very disappointed at."