When You Fall of a Horse, You Have to Get Straight Back On!

Life sometimes throws hurdles into our paths and my particular hurdle happened three years ago. In August 2016 I had a sporting accident.

I was indulging in one of my favourite past times (riding) and I had an accident where I was unfortunately catapulted off Thomas, (a horse I owned and had ridden many times before) and landed on my head.

I knew (due to the way I landed) that the accident was potentially serious and was at one point told by the casualty doctor that I had broken my neck. When the spinal specialist looked at my scans it turned out I’d been extremely lucky and only had muscular damage which healed after a few months, following which I was able to ride again.

Living with limited mobility for this relatively short period was a real eye opener for me and gave me a new appreciation for my physical good health and from my accident a realisation as to how quickly life can change in an instant.

The accident inspired me to want to support and help raise money for a small but amazing charity (Regain).

Regain is a charitable organisation dedicated solely to improving the independence of all British men & women who have become tetraplegic because of a sporting or leisure accident.

I can't imagine a life without sport and I think it's fabulous and inspiring that Regain helps people back into sport after a life changing incident.

So, the challenge was set, I’d take part in Regain’s annual Snowdonia Challenge… but first I had to recruit a willing team of participants and recruit I did indeed!

There were now four of us ready to take on an arduous challenge which included;

• A 20-mile bike ride
• Hike up & down Mount Snowdon
• A further 10-mile ride
• 3km row across a huge lake
• Finishing with a gruelling a 10-mile uphill ride… ALL IN ONE DAY!

Never one to shirk a challenge I shrugged my shoulders, started training and before I knew it Saturday 8th June 2019 arrived.

The day was impressively miserable, wet, cold and misty but we were at the start line ready to do our very best. It transpired that whilst the weather was as you might expect for June in the UK, the day itself was hugely enjoyable and seven hours well spent.