Lewes boy's great grandfather, 103, is oldest man to survive Covid-19 in UK

Dylan Brown, a pupil at Lewes Old Grammar Junior School (Logs), took part in the superhero fancy dress theme on Friday.

The Year 2 pupil from Ovingdean showed up to school dressed as Ugur Sahin, the scientist who founded BioNtech which developed the Pfizer vaccine – all in honour of the fact that his great grandfather James Brown has become the oldest man in Britain to survive Covid-19, at 103 years old.

Six-year-old Dylan, whose middle name is James after his great grandad, has been acutely aware of the dangers of the virus despite his young age.

Dylan dressed as Ugur Sahin on Red Nose Day

On being asked by teachers to dress up as his hero, he told his mum Nicola straight away he wanted to dress as “the person who has helped to save everyone” by coming up with a vaccine.

Nicola said: “Dylan’s great grandfather James, who is 103, was very ill with Covid-19 in his care home in Devon and we were told he would not survive.

“But quite miraculously he did, which of course was cause for great joy in the household.

“ But even before this, Dylan has always paid a great deal of attention to what he has heard on TV.

“Last year he was out every Thursday banging the pots to applaud the NHS and drawing rainbows to display in the windows.

“So when the school told the children they were invited to dress up as their heroes, Dylan immediately started talking about all the doctors and nurses and scientists who have made life better for us all.

“We soon arrived at Ugur Sahin as an idea and it went from there.”

Dylan Brown with his great grandfather James, the oldest patient in the UK to survive Covid-19, at 103

James Brown, a Spitfire engineer in the Second World War, came close to death after contracting the disease in February.

When he pulled through he became the oldest male patient to shake off the disease in the country.

Dylan was not the only pupil at the school to dress as a Covid-19 hero. Fellow pupil Josh Engelhart responded to the superhero call by arriving dressed as Captain Tom Moore, the late centenarian who raised £33 million for NHS charities by walking laps of his garden.

Josh borrowed his great grandmother’s Zimmer frame for the day.

Josh Engelhart as Captain Tom Moore

Lewes Old Grammar Junior School headmistress Carrie Whyte said: “It comes as no surprise to me that they have really thought hard about who their heroes are.”

“Adults sometimes forget that children are listening and absorbing all that goes on around them and we have seen from our children that they, just like their mums, dads and carers, are incredibly grateful to the people that have made a positive difference to our lives in the past 12 months.”

The children raised £446 for Comic Relief, which supports charities in the UK and around the world.