内容摘要：A lot of us have been there, locked in a metal cylinder flying at more than 500mph (804km/h), gritting our teeth about the armrest the person to the left is hogging.

A lot of us have been there, locked in a metal cylinder flying at more than 500mph (804km/h), gritting our teeth about the armrest the person to the left is hogging.

He said he "didn't believe it at first", adding: "It was a great feeling. ...I definitely didn't expect to have something like that this early on."I thought it would be something much later down the line, so really, really excited about that."

He also praised his school for being "supportive"."Luckily, all the training is off school and all the extra national or regional training are on the weekend, so I don't have to skip school for that," he said."It's really good for fitting around school hours."

Sensei Tom, who is one of his trainers, said Archie "picked everything up" from day one."He really impressed me, but not just of how he was in the classes, it's just been his commitment to it."

He added: "We start classes from as young as three years old, so alongside Archie we have a great team of other athletes and instructors that come into the sessions.

"You can see straight away that the young ones take a liking to Archie, he's doing a good job in helping the young ones.""I was having to go to meetings and collect donations. I could just about hold it together. If I'd been crying, I'd put on dark glasses."

The stress and hardship soon took its toll on Amanda's health and she ended up in hospital with pneumonia.For most people, such a health scare would have been disastrous. But for Amanda, the hospital ward provided sanctuary.

"The hospital knew and they sort of pampered me a bit," she said."I was just glad of a bed and a bathroom. It was clean. It felt luxury to me."