A WRESTLER who was left fighting for his life as a baby with meningitis has been presented with a custom made belt by Sam and Kelly Keen from The Golden Farm Pub in Cirencester.

Local fighting legend Darren ‘The Thundercat’ Brown, who was one of the lucky ones and made a full recovery from meningitis, was presented with the ‘Thundera championship’ belt at the pub for all his fundraising work at Cirencester Wrestling Federation (CWF).

Darren, who is the current Affiliated Wrestling Alliance world heavyweight champion, set up the Cirencester Wrestling Federation in 2014 as a way of raising funds to fight meningitis.

The 39 year-old from Swindon was born in Cirencester and lived in Siddington. Last year’s CWF5 raised £600 for Stroud charity Meningitis Now.

He explained: “I started CWF to raise money for Meningitis Now and to entertain the people of Cirencester with with good clean wrestling fun. I didn’t expect to be given awards or prizes but I am very grateful to Kelly and Sam for such a fantastic championship belt.”

Cirencester Wrestling Federation and The Golden Farm will be hosting a special CWF5.5 show soon at a date yet to be confirmed.

“We already can’t wait,” Darren said.

Darren’s wrestling persona ‘The Thundercat’ named after his favourite cartoon from his childhood, will defend his new title at the show.

He added: "Not many wrestlers get their own custom made championship belt so this is a huge honour for me.

“I will bring the belt to ringside in all my CWF and RWS matches for the grappling fans to see in person.”