600 Miles
25 Guys
6 Days
3 Countries
2 Mountain ranges
1 Aim....
TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
On the 28 August last year, 3 friends were sitting in a pub in South West London discussing the idea of carrying out some kind of physical challenge in 2009. A few ideas were bandied around but it was eventually decided that an epic cycle ride would be something they would all be interested in, and the 600 miles in 6 days challenge was born.
As they discussed potential routes, none of them could imagine how the challenge would suddenly and tragically take on a whole lot more meaning…
At around half past 9 a phone call revealed that one of the groups 20 year old brother, Oli, had been horrifically stabbed in an unprovoked attack in East London. He was being resuscitated at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.
On arrival at the hospital, the events of the attack slowly unfolded and Oli’s condition was critical – life saving emergency heart surgery got him through the night and eventually he was transferred to the Intensive Care unit where he remained critical. It transpired over the next few days that Oli’s spinal cord had been partially severed in the attack, leaving him with minimal movement from the neck down.
It would be 4 months before Oli would leave the ICU for a specialist spinal unit in North London, and a further month before he could breathe on his own without the aid of a life support machine.
Oliver is now in rehabilitation where he receives 24/7 care from a team of nurses as they slowly work to rebuild his strength and movements.
In addition to raising awareness of the growing problem of knife crime in the UK, Ride2Recovery aims to raise money for two spinal injury charities (Spinal Research and Aspire) and a trust that will benefit Oli himself and contribute towards anything he may need in the future.
Find out more at www.ride2recovery.co.uk
