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The plan is to run 1000 km from January to April. This will include 3 marathons (Gran Canaria, Steyning Stinger and London) and one Ultra marathon (Two Oceans 56km).  Having had a foot injury I immediately fell behind the plan but now towards the end of February, things are looking almost back on track. I'm doing this to support the Spinal Injuries Association who have been such a massive support for my friend Brian O'Shea who broke his neck in 1994. Here is his story, please read it right to the end and then cough up! In 1994 I broke my neck while swimming in the Thames and was paralysed from the shoulders down.  So what's the big deal about being paralysed? Well, it involves active management of your body in a way that you never think about before it happens to you.  I have to consciously manage everything from ingrowing toenails through monitoring my skin for pressure sores (all without any feeling below my shoulders), what and when I eat, what drugs I take through to the position I sit in my wheelchair and whether my clothes are on straight.  This means that knowledge and information are really important, and that's where the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA) comes into it. I was in hospital for 11 months after my accident and while I undoubtedly learned a whole lot from the professionals I learnt as much, if not more, from my peers.  This learning process continued after I left hospital and the SIA was undoubtedly the most significant resource in the process.  The services they offer are many and varied (check out the website), but the publications and information service really are invaluable.  Here one can access information about the best catheters is on the market or wheelchair accessible taxis to go clubbing in Ibiza - much of it provided directly by other SIA members themselves.  This means that you know it's information you can trust, not just marketing.  They are also able to put people in touch with each other.  I have had a few of operations in the last couple of years and it has been really helpful on each occasion to be able to talk with somebody who has already gone through the procedure. They are also THE voice for spinal cord injured people (who are a very small minority group in the world of disability as a whole) and work tirelessly to lobby on our behalf for maintaining and improving the services that pretty literally keep us alive. This is particularly important given the financial climate at the moment. In many ways I've been quite lucky. I've always had full-time carers and this has meant that I've been able to get back to work, travel and get up to all sorts of other mischief. Now I'm starting to hear of people with my level of injury being expected to survive on 4 x 1 hour care visits a day. When the social worker was asked what they were supposed to do the rest of the time she replied "watch daytime TV"! The only other alternative they are offered is going into a nursing home, and these are young guys in their 20s. I know that a spinal-cord injury doesn't have to stop you from living a half decent life, but only if you got the right resources in place. Fighting for the right to have access to appropriate care is just one of the things that SIA is doing right now. And the SIA is not only useful for people living in the UK.  A friend of mine recently broke his neck in Zimbabwe.  He was rehabed in South Africa, but his family were able to get hold of a load of publications and information on managing SCI that he can take back to Zim with him.  I know that these will be incredibly useful and may just make the difference between “staying alive” and “living”. Given how far Roger is planning on travelling in the next couple of months you have to agree that it's a pretty short distance to reach for your wallet!?! As some of you may know I'm actually working for SIA at the moment, so the money Roger raises is going to indirectly keep me in beer and pies. Now that's got to be a worthwhile cause!

1000km Challenge

1000km Challenge

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