A man with Down's Syndrome was "all smiles" after being given a special gift by a ship captain.
Tony Armitage, from Walton, was enjoying a day out on the Pier Head with his family to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic when they got chatting to a group of captains. The group included Captain Richard Hewitt OBE, Commanding Officer of HMS Prince of Wales, who approached Tony after posing for a picture with him and his family.
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Tony's cousin, Angie Kelsall, told the ECHO: "We said 'come on Tony we'll see if the captains will have a picture with us.'
"[Captain Hewitt] just made a fuss of Tony. He had his hand in his pocket and put this coin in Tony's hand.
"He didn't realise the significance of it at the time. I WhatsApped a picture to his dad and he Googled it. He said 'that's quite a significant thing you know.'
Angie said Tony, who is almost non-verbal, was "made up" after being gifted the official crest coin which was embellished with the words "commanding officer" and "HMS Prince of Wales".
She added: "He was all smiles. It was so lovely. All of them were so friendly, even as we were walking away they were saying 'bye Brenda, bye Tony'."
Commander or challenge coins are given to honour military service, from the Royal Air Force to the Navy and the Marines. They can mark a specific achievement, time served, a commendation, or allegiance to a particular military unit or office.
Tony's uncle Joe Kelsall said: "I thought it was a unique thing for a man of that senior rank. As far as I'm concerned he's more important than royalty – the captain of the largest aircraft carrier we've got."
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