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Schoolboy wildlife enthusiast Digby Rushton has received a handwritten letter from Sir David Attenborough, the English broadcaster and naturalist who has inspired millions by bringing the natural world into homes across the globe.
Sir David celebrated his 90th birthday on Sunday and thanks to a life marked by a tenacious desire to explore, innovate and enlighten, his impact has touched many hearts … and none more so than the 13-year-old British expat who lives in Saar.
Digby, a student at St Christopher’s School, wrote to the TV legend to tell him about his ambitions to become a marine biologist, and amazingly received a response from Sir David, famed for his natural history TV programmes which span six decades, encouraging him to continue with his scuba-diving adventures.
“The reason I admire Sir David Attenborough is because he has been preserving and raising awareness of marine life and wildlife for such a long time,” said Digby.
“His TV programmes are so inspiring and interesting and they are one of the reasons why I became interested in marine life and want to become a marine biologist. I couldn’t believe it when I received a letter back from him and I couldn’t wait to open it. He is such an amazing and lovely man.”
Over the past six months Digby has taken and passed both his Junior Open Water PADI certification and his Advanced Open Water PADI certification and has completed 15 dives in Bahrain and the Maldives – the first steps towards him achieving his dream career.
He is also well-known on the island for his swimming prowess having represented the kingdom in an open water competition in Dubai at the age of nine, as reported in GulfWeekly.
His mother, Julia, and father, Peter, both marketing and communications executives, say Sir David’s handwritten note will be treasured forever by their son.
Following the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations last month, the UK is enjoying marking another new nonagenarian’s landmark anniversary.
Sir David’s birthday has kicked off a week-long series of programmes across BBC channels, including Inspiring Attenborough: Sir David at 90, when he looked back, in conversation with Kirsty Young, over his globe-trotting career and some of his most extraordinary animal encounters, from Rwandan mother and baby gorillas to Christmas Island crabs.
Although the man might loathe the term ‘national treasure’ many commentators suggest he definitely qualifies as one.
A new £200 million (BD109 million) polar research ship is to be named after him too.
Backed by a social media campaign, Boaty McBoatface easily topped an online poll with more than 124,000 votes although even the instigator of the Boaty name later apologised for his suggestion. However, the UK government decided that the state-of-the-art ship which is due to set sail in 2019 would be named Sir David Attenborough, whose name had attracted 11,000 votes.
Sir David said he was honoured. “I hope that everyone who suggested a name will feel just as inspired to follow the ship’s progress as it explores our polar regions,” he said.
