Thank you for taking the time to visit Mark's Fundraising page, Mark and the whole family really appreciate your support. 

Fundraising:

We are looking to organise a number of fundraising activities so please check this page regularly for further details.

1.  First up is Kevin Booth who is taking part in a Motorcycle India Challenge where he will be riding 1,300km through India on a Royal Enfield Bullet starting on 18th October.  He hasn't riden a bike for 10 years so this is really going to be a test of nerve and skill.  Good luck Kevin, we hope you enjoy the challenge but please be careful.x.           http://www.globaladventurechallenges.com/pages/international-challenges/india-motorcycle-challenge.php  

PLEASE SPONSOR KEVIN TODAY ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

2. Between now and 6th December 2009 Becky Tustain, Fiona Gibson and Sarah Hacker will be completing the Aspire Channel Swim 2009 which involves swimming the length of the English Channel; 22 miles in ten weeks.  

PLEASE SPONSOR THEM TODAY ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

3.  Do you have an old mobile phone you would be willing to donate so we can exchange it for cash?  Email re.tustain@elsevier.com for details.

4. There will be a cake sale on Friday 23rd October at the Elsevier Kidlington site.  Cake donations welcome....nearer the time please!

About Mark:

Mark is a 24 year old Tax & Stats Accountant working for Elsevier, though despite working in Tax, is a lively character and he has a strong passion for motorbikes...

On 9th May this year Mark had a motorbike accident where he suffered an incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) at T6 and as a result was paralysed from the waist down. He spent 3 weeks in the JR where he had his first operation to clear the broken bone from his spinal cord and to repair his spine. The bones had compressed a lot in the accident and so they fixed metalwork down his spine from T2 to T10. He was then moved to the National Spinal Centre in Stoke Mandeville where he had a second operation to rebuild the part of the spine that was fractured using bone grafts from his hip. He is now waiting for a third operation to remove the metalwork from his back but they have to be sure his spine is strong enough to support him.  In the meantime he is work very hard on rehabilitation.

Over the last few weeks Mark has had some flickers of movement in his legs which is obviously a very significant change. He has managed to demonstrate this movement to his physio's who have now acknowledged that there is something there. His rehab schedule has been adjusted so that he uses FES equipment which uses electricity to stimulate the muscles and encourages the passing of signals up and down the spinal cord. The hospitals plan is to discharge Mark in around 6 weeks time where he will go home for a short period before being readmitted for his last operation. After this he will stay for a few weeks more for further rehab.

The FES treatment is key for Mark and with muscle movement returning he could very well walk again if he continues to work on this. The hospital have advised the best thing he could do is to use an FES leg bike and a standing frame daily. The standing frame is provided for free by local authorities but there is currently no support for FES equipment, so this is what we are raising money for. 

About Aspire:

Spinal Cord Injury has a devastating effect on the 1,200 people who become paralysed each year.

The individual affected will lose muscle and sensory control and the vast majority become full time wheelchair users for the rest of their lives.  Through its projects and programms, Aspire offers practical support to the 40,000 people living with a spinal cord injury in the UK so that they can lead fulfilled and independent lives in their homes, with their families, in work-places and leisure time.

Aspire are helping us by allowing us to raise money for their charity, the first £10,500 collected will be used by them to purchase the FES bike for Mark.  Anything above this amount will go into their Human Needs Fund which provides essential equipment for spinally injured people.