I am 57 and sustained a C5 level spinal cord injury, as a result of a riding accident in February 2004 and then spent 3 weeks in intensive care on a ventilator before being transferred to the Duke of Cornwall spinal unit at Salisbury hospital where I spent the next 9 months.
In my previous life I worked with horses running my livery yard, doing some teaching, and breaking and schooling my homebred youngsters and competing with them, one of whom, now 23 years old, I still have, alongside looking after my two children who where 9 and 10 at the time.
During this traumatic time the Mark Davies Injured Riders Fund (MDIRF) offered me much appreciated help. The MDIRF offered immediate assistance for things such as horse care, which I was lucky enough not to need at the time but would have been a huge relief if I had, but also helped towards the equipment I would need on discharge from hospital and contributed towards the cost of my electric bed (still in use 16 years later).
For the last 5 years I have been working towards a degree in History through the Open University which has been great for my mind but less so for my fitness, and as my dissertation was cancelled in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic I decided to use the time to improve my fitness. My daughter, a keen and very competitive runner, has since been encouraging me to tackle a half marathon at home, and I have finally given in.
My challenge begins on 19th August and involves wheeling up and down my 18 yard patio 100 times a day (98 = 1 mile) to hopefully cover the half marathon distance of 13.1 miles or 23,056 yards in 13 days, although if my wheelchair pushing rims get wet I can’t move so if it rains I may have to extend the time.
Please support Wendy in her challenge by donating at her fund raising page