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Three years ago, Wales was about to enter its first Covid lockdown. It was a difficult time for many, including Caerphilly’s Fraizer Harris and his family.
Fraizer, who was just four at the time, has cystic fibrosis, meaning he needs to keep active to stay on top of his condition. However, with the virus circulating, Fraizer and his parents were forced to shield.
What is cystic fibrosis?
Cystic fibrosis is an inherited condition that causes sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive system. This causes lung infections and problems with digesting food.
Symptoms usually start in early childhood and vary from child to child, but the condition gets slowly worse over time, with the lungs and digestive system becoming increasingly damaged.
Treatments are available to help reduce the problems caused by the condition and make it easier to live with, but sadly life expectancy is shortened.
The build-up of sticky mucus in the lungs can cause breathing problems and increases the risk of lung infections. Over time, the lungs may stop working properly.
Mucus also clogs the pancreas (the organ that helps with digestion), which stops enzymes reaching food in the gut and helping with digestion.
This means most people with cystic fibrosis don’t absorb nutrients from food properly and need to eat more calories to avoid malbutrition.
Source: NHS
But it was during the first lockdown when his father, Jermaine discovered Fraizer had a golfing talent.
Now aged seven, Fraizer boasts 38 golf trophies to his name and has been nominated for a Child of Wales award.
Speaking to Caerphilly Observer, Jermaine said: “I’m a big golf fan myself, so Fraizer always had plastic golf clubs when he was younger.
“During lockdown, we had lovely weather. We were in the garden with Fraizer and I said to my wife that he was hitting every ball.”
Not long after noticing his son’s talent, Jermaine was watching a golf documentary on the television, which Fraizer joined him to watch – and he soon became “obsessed” with golf.
With golf courses being among the first venues to reopen after lockdown, Jermaine wasted no time in taking Fraizer to test his skills.
“He thought it was so cool – he thought the only people who played golf were himself, me and Tiger Woods,” Jermaine added.
Since then, golf has taken Fraizer all over the world, competing in around 16 to 20 competitions each year.
“It’s an easy way to motivate him to stay active,” Jermaine said. “Rather than cystic fibrosis being a cloud over him, it motivates him to be fit and healthy.”
To stay in good shape, Fraizer does physio in the car before his golf competitions and has to take around 50 tablets a day – some of which he takes while he’s on the golf course.
He won the US Kids Championships in 2021, which meant he qualified for the World Championships in the United States, where he represented Wales.
He has also finished as a runner-up in the British Kids Championships.
His continued success means he has another trip stateside planned for this year, as well as trips to Scotland, Italy and Portugal.
After learning of his son’s Child of Wales Awards nomination, Jermaine said: “I was stunned. There’s lots of exceptional children doing inspirational things, but Fraizer deserves this.
“He’s so excited. He sees himself as a miniature professional golfer.”
He continued: “His dream is to go professional, but I always remind him he has another 13 or 14 years before that stage, so let’s have some fun and enjoy it.
“I don’t want to push him, he just loves the fun of it.”
The Child of Wales Awards, which is in its third year, celebrates the achievements of children across Wales while raising money for Welsh children’s charities.
The ceremony, which will be presented by television’s Gethin Jones, is being held at Cardiff’s Mercure Holland House Hotel on Friday March 24.
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