A disabled tenpin bowler has spoken about how he couldn’t walk until the age of nine in a documentary exploring the lives of Special Olympics athletes with learning disabilities.

Jonathan Frett, 45, from New Malden, is a medal-winning bowler but couldn’t walk until he was nine and said his first words aged seven.

He featured alongside three other athletes in the documentary I Love Special Olympics.

His mother, Sue Frett, was once threatened with imprisonment after taking her son out of school, where he was being bullied.

The 73-year-old was shown watching her son, who battled with a drink problem, win gold in the Special Olympics national games.

She said: “I have never seen him so happy. But whatever it is he has recaptured the Jonathan Frett that his mum knows here at the national games, which is absolutely wonderful.

“I just can’t believe it. His dad would be over the moon if he saw him.”

Mrs Frett admitted she had been through rocky times with her son, especially when her husband died seven years ago, but said she was a proud mother.

She said: “Never give up on a disabled kid. You can’t because they are part of you and you are going to be holding their hands for a long long time. But every so often just let go a little.

“One day you, me, all of us are not going to be here so we have to make sure our children are ready to walk the path on their own. But never give up on them.”

The Special Olympics is a year-round everyday sports programme and the third member of the Olympic family, which is often confused with the Paralympics – which is for elite disabled athletes.

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