Lewis Hamilton’s Mission44 venture continues to inspire, with a new campaign aimed at helping kids tackle isolation in school announced on Wednesday. During its launch, Hamilton also revealed a surprising fact: he was expelled from school when he was 15.
“Sometimes, small things make a big difference” is what Hamilton says in a voiceover at the start of the Instagram video which brought his cause to light. The seven-time World Champion discusses how school isn’t easy for everyone.
Often, due to people being misunderstood, drastic actions are taken against them, which in certain cases can derail their entire career. “For some, school is full of hurdles that young people have to overcome. Not all are granted the opportunity to have someone offer a helping hand, so they can achieve their dreams,” he adds.
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That’s what Hamilton vows to change through this campaign. He gathered a group of people who had faced difficulties in school to share their stories with the world, each highlighting different challenges they had experienced. Hamilton also revealed how he was mistakenly blamed for an attack on another student, for which he nearly lost his entire life.
Hamilton’s experience with school expulsion
In the video, Hamilton discusses being expelled at 15. “That really nearly changed the whole trajectory of my life,” the 39-year-old reveals.
However, what Hamilton truly meant to say was that he went through an ‘exclusion’, which in British schools, is different. The caption on Mission44’s Instagram post reads, “At 15 years old, Lewis had temporarily excluded himself, before being reinstated in his classroom…”
So, Hamilton had only suffered a temporary expulsion, but that too took a negative toll on his mental health. “I was thrown out and I didn’t even do anything,” he said in an older interview. “I thought my life was over and I didn’t really want to go home that day”.
Thankfully, Hamilton’s innocence was proven very quickly, allowing him to return to school, while the person who sustained the injuries recovered in the hospital. Nonetheless, it was a traumatic experience for the Mercedes driver, one he doesn’t want kids to go through. This is why he launched his campaign through Mission44.
