Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

As many of you know, on 25th August 2012, my father, Rear Admiral Sandy Backus CB OBE, broke his neck in an accident.  He is now paralaysed from the shoulders down and no longer able to enjoy his retirement through hedge laying and dry stone walling.  During the 10 months he was in hospital, and through my jobs as an Air Ambulance and Search and Rescue pilot, I have been amazed by the number of people affected by spinal injuries and the life changing circumstances they, their friends and families encounter.  The most common causes of these injuries seems to be falls, road traffic collisions, horse riding, diving, skiing and rugby - situations most of us could find ourselves in.

Spinal Research is a Charity that funds vital research to try and repair damaged spinal chords with the aim of restoring feeling and mobility to injured people.  Their pioneering work is making great progress and a cure for paralysis is looking ever more feasible.  By sponsoring me to run the Welsh 3000s challenge, and ride in a 24 hour mountain bike relay race, you will be contributing towards medical research or the commissioning of preliminary work on several new research projects.  Having already raised over £6300 by running the 2014 London Marathon, I hope to top up the donations to £7500 this year.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now; my father, our family, and all those others in the UK affected by Paralysis only really have hope until these medical breakthroughs are realised, tried and tested.

Thank you.