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Sophie Etheridge raised £420 from 13 supporters
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Closed 31/12/2017
Weʼve raised £420 to help me to get the Racing Wheelchair and equipment that I need to allow me to participate in a sport I love.
- Huntingdon, United Kingdom
- Funded on Sunday, 31st December 2017
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Story
Please help - I am trying to raise funds to buy myself a racing wheelchair!
I have always been very sporty & was a competitive swimmer & a triathlete.
After an accident in 2011 when I was knocked off my bike I was in excruciating pain and after a year & a half of various tests & scans I was finally diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). CRPS is a chronic pain condition which causes intense burning, swelling, hypersensitivity and persistent, excruciating and debilitating pain. It is usually confined to one limb but mine has spread & is now in both legs and because of this I now have to use a wheelchair almost full time.
The impact CRPS has had on my life has been huge, I suddenly found myself unable to participate in any sport because of my pain; I couldn’t even swim because of the extreme hypersensitivity in my legs so even the water touching my legs hurts!
I went 4 years without doing any sports activities but eventually decided to try & get back into swimming in 2016. The water on my legs was extremely painful but I slowly learnt to tolerate it and in June 2016 I took part in a 1-mile event at The Great East Swim. After doing the swim I decided continue training & I am now training for a 10km swim.
Despite the swimming my competitive nature meant that I also wanted to get into another sport too but I couldn’t do anything I tried. I eventually decided to try and get involved in disability sport. In March I found a Wheelchair Racing club & from the moment I first got in one of the chairs I loved it! I went to training sessions & have been using a chair from the club and improving each week but I need to get my own chair that is set up and custom made for me so that I can improve further and begin to compete in races.
Racing Wheelchairs are very expensive & the base price of the one I need is £3600 so in total it is likely to cost around £4000 when customised.
I will be forever grateful for any donation big or small.
Thank You!
Updates
6
- 7 years ago
Sophie Etheridge
7 years agoIts been ages since I posted here due to not doing any events but I have continued training. I have somewhere to train in Peterborough & go to weekly sessions. I am slowly building up my strength and stamina and hope to do a 5km event before Christmas. The chair I am using causes me a lot of pain as it doesn't fit me properly so it is difficult for me to stay in the chair for a long period of time, if I had my own chair I wouldn't have as much of an issue. Please donate what you can so I can continue to do what I love with less pain! Thank you.
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- 7 years ago
Sophie Etheridge
7 years agoThis weekend I was supposed to take part in the Night swim at Rutland on Saturday & today I was the swimmer for a Olympic Distance Tri in St.Neots but on Friday I had a fall, injuring my knee and landing me at the hospital. I was and still am in a lot of pain but was determined not to let it stop me, I decided not to do the night swim so I was able to do the Triathlon today. It went really well & my time was 29.38 which is my first time sub 30min since racing again! The cyclist & runner both did great too & we finished in 2.53.45, in 3rd place!
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- 7 years ago
Sophie Etheridge
7 years agoI had a great swim at Rutland Water and completed 4km in 1.30.35 which I was really pleased with. The conditions weren't great, it was choppy and I struggled to sight but I was 8th in my age/gender category and 93rd out of 201 finishers. I can now clearly see both my times and my positions improving and am really happy with my progress. This weekend I have The Rutland Night swim, its not a race but I am aiming to do 4km in the hour and a half. Then on Sunday I am the swimmer for a BRJ relay team at the St Neots Triathlon! An exciting weekend!
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Sophie Etheridge started crowdfunding
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Supporters
13
Anonymous
Sep 7, 2017
£20.00
Anonymous
Jul 23, 2017
£5.00
Alice Noyes
Jul 12, 2017
Just an inspiration
£30.00
Anna Douglas
Jul 3, 2017
£25.00
debbie murphy
Jun 29, 2017
Go Sophie! You can do it 😁 you're amazing and brave and anything is possible xx
£10.00
Shannon Eustace
Jun 28, 2017
Well done Sophie!! You can do whatever you put your mind to 😁
£30.00
Anonymous
Jun 28, 2017
£100.00
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Sophie Etheridge
Huntingdon, United Kingdom
Having been very sporty all my life I am determined not to let becoming disabled stop me but to be able to take part in disability sport you need certain equipment and its all very expensive.