Photo by Ellen Ferrera
Special Olympics coach Les Todd of Sullivan, fourth from the left, receives a blanket from his athletes during a fundraising walk held this past Saturday at Peterson Park in Mattoon to help with costs he is incurring while battling cancer.

•September 23, 2020•
By Ellen Ferrara
NP Writer

On September 19, the athletes and families of Special Olympics held a Prayer Walk at Peterson Park in Mattoon for their beloved coach, Les Todd, who has been diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. The walk was organized to help raise funds for the cost of his surgery.
Les and Lisa Todd organized the local Special Olympics nearly ten years ago to give their son, Bradlee, and other intellectually disabled children the opportunity to engage in sports and compete as other children do. They devoted most of their lives to coaching and training their wards in basketball, softball, flag football, bowling, bocce, swimming and track and field.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.