I wanted to let you know of a little challenge myself and my daughter have set up this month all in aid of the amazing charity Spinal Research UK.
We have decided to undertake a combined wheel/run of 400k in May. Emily, my daughter, will be running - I will obviously be wheeling. We would like to raise money for the Spinal Research charity which is something very close to my heart. It was 14 years ago when I suffered a spinal stroke and overnight my life moved into the twilight zone of a wheelchair user. It was a life changing scenario and one that I still rail against daily. The world is not really designed for wheelchair users - so many everyday menial tasks take so much longer and even just one step into a building can mean the difference between engaging with life or just going home.
Now, I'm a bloody-minded character as I'm sure a lot of you will know and I have been given way more opportunities to continue with life and work than a lot of people in my situation enjoy. My injury in my spine was reasonably low down and I still have full mobility in my arms (and mouth - as my family frequently comment 😂). I remember during my stay in hospital someone dropped a bottle of water accidentally on the floor - I was the only person out of the 8 there who had enough arm mobility to bend down and pick it up! 14 years later and I think about that one thing nearly every day. Can you imagine your life not even being able to pick up something you dropped on the floor.
We would love to raise money to create a little more hope for my fellow comrades diagnosed with spinal injuries and pushing on with research can open up opportunities for improvements in their lives.
Pre wheelchair I really enjoyed running - the exercise both physically and mentally is liberating. It weirdly took until our enforced stay at home during Covid to realise the potential of wheeling - that and the fact that you have to wheel up the hill to get to the Bell (the journey back is exhilarating!).
So far I have clocked up 84.25km (just over 11 hours of wheeling) - so I'm getting towards the halfway mark!
If you would like to support this please do go to our Just Giving page - any donations would be absolutely wonderful - just click Here
Spinal Research is the UK’s leading charity funding medical research around the world to develop effective treatments for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury. Every year 1,000 people in the UK and Ireland are paralysed following an injury to their spinal cord. They receive no government funding and rely entirely on the support of the public to raise funds for research. Because of the efforts of our supporters, we have funded innovative medical research that has achieved a number of groundbreaking changes in the field.
Sally
