| The Independent |
February
14, 2002
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| Title: Tycoon's pride as Nepalese boy he saved from poverty competes in the Olympics | ||
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| A
British businessman who saved a young Nepalese boy from destitution and
then fought a bitter legal battle to keep him in the UK will today watch
with pride as he competes in the Winter Olympics. Richard Morley, a computer tycoon from Tunbridge Wells, is also the chief skiing coach for the one-man Nepal national team making its Olympic debut in Salt Lake City. The Himalayan kingdom's sole competitor is the boy he rescued, Jayaram Khadka, who will line up for the 10km cross-country skiing race at 9.15am local time. Mr Khadka is likely to be one of the Games' most unlikely heroes whatever the race's outcome. His journey to the Olympiad is an intriguing one. In 1984 Mr Morley, a former naval officer, was trekking in a remote part of the Himalayas when he was involved in a climbing accident. The local policeman who saved him – by running for three days to the nearest telephone – refused a cash reward, but asked Mr Morley to look after Jayaram should he fall on hard times. When the policeman died a few years later Mr Morley returned to Nepal and, after a three-month search, found the boy working as a kitchen hand on starvation wages. Mr Morley invited the boy to live with him first in Margate and later at his mansion, Clearwell Castle in the Forest of Dean, where he was the leader of a commune of several men and women. During this time Mr Morley fought against a deportation order, which was finally rescinded by the then Home Secretary, Jack Straw, when Labour came to power in 1997. Mr Morley had hoped to adopt the child formally, but the age on his passport was incorrectly recorded as 18, which is too old for adoption. After several years of legal action and medical tests Mr Khadka's age was finally corrected. His current age is thought to be 27. Since the deportation order was withdrawn, Mr Morley, a keen winter sportsman, has pursued his ambition to turn his son into an Olympic-class skier. During their legal battle the pair went on numerous ski-ing trips. Mr Morley had been a keen alpine racer during his naval service and, although no one skis in Nepal, Mr Khadka showed an immediate passion for the sport. Mr Morley was so keen for his son to pursue his goal that he bought a house in France to enable Mr Khadka to train full-time during the winter season. Once their legal battle ended he dedicated himself to qualifying for the Olympics. He had planned to compete in the Olympic downhill and slalom races but he broke his arm during training. After recovering, he tore ligaments in his knee. He decided instead to compete in cross-country skiing, a gruelling event in which skiers cross flat terrain on waxed skis. He put on cross-country skis for the first time in November 2000 and within three months he was recording times equal to the Olympic standard. Mr Khadka's progress at the Games, both today and in the 1,500m sprint next Tuesday, is likely to be followed on television by his mother in Nepal, where he returns for two months every year. He said: "My mother has a television in the house now but to be honest she wouldn't know the difference between me being in the Olympics and being on Mars. It's completely alien to her." Mr Morley closed his business to concentrate on his campaign to keep the boy in Britain, and sold Clearwell Castle to pay the £250,000 legal bill. He is now part-owner of four ski chalet hotels and the 25-bedroom Russell Hotel in Tunbridge Wells, and is supporting two other Nepalese skiers in France at an annual cost of £20,000. He said: "I am an immensely proud father, an immensely proud coach and an immensely proud sponsor. It makes me feel great to think we got as far as this." By Matthew Beard |