Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. I'm taking on the #SpinalCircuit and aiming to push at least 100km over the next  6 weeks during my daily allowed exercise to help ensure that Back Up is there to help in the future.

Back Up was there to help me when I was first injured in 2000.  At age 24, I had a snowboarding accident, shattered two vertebrae in my neck and sustained a spinal cord injury.  The early days were difficult, trying to accept what had happened and that I would be using a wheelchair for the rest of my life was a huge adjustment.

I spent 11 months in rehab in Glasgow and Salisbury, and first heard about Back Up when I was an inpatient. Soon after being discharged, I was heading up to the Lake District for a multi-activity course. It was a game-changer for me, it raised my aspirations and showed me what was possible in this new life.

This year on 27th April, I'll mark 20 years since the accident that changed my life. I have a huge amount to thank Back Up for - adventures, many friends, a career and not least, my wife and two beautiful daughters! 

I've worked for Back Up for 17 years both in services and fundraising and, as a charity, we have faced many challenges in that time.  However, the global COVID-19 health crisis is an entirely new threat that has left us rapidly adapting our work and facing a dramatic loss of income. 

Over the next three months, over 600 people will sustain a spinal cord injury. This is at a time when health services will be pushed to their limits and the usual levels of support for newly injured people in terms of rehab and education will be limited. 

Through this challenge, I hope to raise money so Back Up can continue supporting people with spinal cord injury and ensure they don’t miss out on the opportunities I had when I was injured 20 years ago. 

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