Since suffering a very serious spinal cord injury in November 2007, I have had nearly 2 years in hospital and I am now confined to a wheelchair, paralised from the neck down,  and will be for the rest of my life. Previously, I was a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force and a commercial pilot with Thomas Cook and led a very active life. I'm still keen to participate in any way I can in events such as The Great Manchester Run, hopefully, this will raise awareness of life after SCI and with your help raise funds for others.

Whilst I was in the Hope Hospital Salford still on a life-support ventilator in intensive care I could see the finish line by the Hilton hotel on Deansgate. I was determined that I could still take part but would obviously need a lot of help from others. Hence Fattys Big Push for the last three years even though for the first 2, I was still in hospital.

In the run-up to London 2012 I have become a Thomas Cook Olympic Pioneer and we have set a challenge of trying to raise £2012 for Thomas Cook children's charities.

For me to take part in this event I am of course wholly dependent on the help of others, but with your help we can all make a difference to the lives of some young people.

Thank you

Jerry (a.k.a. Fatty) and The Big Push 4 Team

www.jerryward.co.uk