Accident news
13/01/2011

Wheelchair-bound back injury victim plans to raise money

After experiencing a motorbike accident four years ago, a man, who suffered back injury and neck injury and, as a result, is now confined to a wheelchair, has not been deterred from travelling 5,000 miles to raise money for a worthy cause.

The 24-year-old man plans to journey across two continents to raise money for the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, in Bangladesh, where he was working as a volunteer until recently.

The young man says, "After finishing my three months' volunteering stint here I decided that flying back would be too boring and, seeking a more adventurous path, I've decided to come back across land. That's around 5,000 miles on buses and trains that aren't ‘textbook' accessible".

The trek, which will cover 14 countries, is expected to take him about two months, and he plans to make it a greater accomplishment by doing it on his own. He wants to raise awareness amongst other paraplegics, of what can still be achieved when in a wheelchair, as well as collecting funds for the rehabilitation centre, "which does an amazing job in one of the poorest countries in the world".

Beginning in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, the road traffic victim will return home by way of Calcutta, Nepal, Tibet and China, before heading across Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Holland, Belgium, and France. He will finish in the UK at Liverpool's Albert Dock.

The young man doesn't let his life-changing motorcycle accident get in his way. Looking for new challenges in life, the man says, "I don't let being in a wheelchair stop me from doing anything.

"Sky diving, scuba diving, bungee jumping, triathlons – I've done them all," the back injury victim told the press.