28th November 1967
Equestrian Simon Laurens is born
Simon Larens won gold in Team Open Dressage and silver in individual freestyle at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, helping put Great Britain at the top of the equestrian events medals table.
Laurens was born in St Brelade and, according to his official rider biography from British Dressage, “when he was [seven and a half] his best friend was given some riding lessons for her birthday and she refused to go on her own. Simon’s friend was bucked off during her first lesson and gave up while Simon was hooked. Three months later, his mum bought him his first pony and the obsession continued…”
Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2004, in 2008 he was named BBC South West Disabled Sports Personality of the year. Upon winning, he spoke to the BBC about his time in Beijing and explained that “in a strange way, my MS has helped me. I decided it was going to work for me. These experiences [competing on the world stage] are the best medicine I could ever have.”
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Other events that occured in November
Jersey concentration camp prisoner Gordon Prigent is born
- Gordon Prigent was born in St Helier in 1924 and during the occupation was sent to deported to Alderney.
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Liberty Wharf shopping centre opens
- St Helier’s £40m Liberty Wharf occupies a former Victorian abattoir, and retains many of the listed building’s original features.
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A Jersey ketch explodes in Bristol
- A Jersey ketch carrying 300 barrels of crude oil exploded in Bristol Docks, killing a captain and three others.
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Men receive five-year sentence for stealing apples and jam
- Three men were sentenced to five years in prison for stealing apples and jam from a house in St Helier.
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