Best week of his life!

Fun in the sun, Dominic Wood, left, his grandma Kathleen Ramsden and his holiday pal Brad Atkins

THEY say Oldhamers are a friendly bunch and two young local boys made such an impression on their holiday pal, that he is eager to track them down — from his home near Nelson.

Dominic Wood (14) finds it hard to make friends, because he has a form of autism known as asperger’s syndrome, but something clicked when he met up with Oldham brothers Kyle and Brad Atkins while on holiday in the Sargerme region of Turkey.

The youngsters got on so well, that a normally shy Dominic was brought out of his shell for the first time and had what his mum describes as the best week of his life.

Dominic’s mum, Margaret, from Barrowford, said: “Dominic has had such a difficult time of it. He gets bullied every day.

“We took him on holiday to help cheer him up and he made friends with these two lovely boys from Oldham and had simply the best week of his life.

“It would mean so much to us if they were to get back in touch.”

Dominic struck up a friendship with Kyle (12) and Brad (11) soon after flying out to the Pegasus Palace hotel on June 5 for a week-long break in the sun. Margaret said: “People with asperger’s tend to be intellectually very gifted, but people sometimes misinterpret them as being rude, because they have difficulty in social situations.

“These two Oldham boys are a fantastic example to youngsters everywhere.

“They took him as he was, they accepted him and looked after him and Dominic grew massively in confidence during his time with them.

“I would be happy to drive Dominic over to Oldham to meet Kyle and Brad or they would be more than welcome to come and stay with us for a weekend.”

Dominic said: “I would be really happy if Kyle and Brad got in touch.”

If Kyle and Brad would like to get in touch, their family can call Margaret on: 01282 690 406 or 07947 363 925.