Our charities act as a safety net, aiming to catch those in need when help is most needed. Joel Wood of Assured Life Advisers is proud to be joining the Steve Prescott Foundation Kilimanjaro Challenge 2017. The inspirational work of the Steve Prescott Foundation (SPF) continues to inspire members of our community to face seemingly impossible challenges in order to raise funds to help others. Assured Life Advisers are delighted to help SPF as it goes from strength to strength.

This is Joel's story:

On a cold, dark morning in October 1996, barely 10 weeks after having turned 21, I was viciously attacked whilst defending a friend from several mindless thugs in North London.

It was in those early hours that I was stabbed in the chest. My attacker, unknown to me to this day, after having already stabbed me once, showed his intent to stab me again. He stood not four feet in front of me, his eyes fixed on mine, still with weapon in hand as he slowly edged towards me. Contemplating my next move, whilst gradually walking backwards so as to maintain the gap between the two of us, I quickly had to decide my next move. Do I fight him or seek a quick means of escape? Non-confrontational by nature and not fancying my chances, looking down at my hand, clasped over where I had been stabbed and with blood slowly seeping across my shirt, I was left with very little option.

The quickest route away from this bewildering scenario was to lower myself off a wall, which separated me from the North Circular below. I slowly climbed this short wall and carefully lowered myself down. Hanging by the tips of my fingers, I looked up at the edge of the wall which was very soon to be disappearing quicker than one would think.

I let go. As I fell, to use a tired cliché, time appeared to slow. I span my outstretched arms in large and considered circles. As my hands circled my head for the first time having brushed passed my upper legs, the scale of my descent became apparent. When they passed the second time, I knew my fate lay in the hands of the Gods. The third passing never happened. My descent, which I subsequently learned was 21’ in height, was brought to an abrupt halt when the cold, damp and unforgiving hardness of the road beneath sent shockwaves firstly through my right arm, which was first to hit terra firma and then my bum, on its right. This shock wave shattered my 1st lumbar vertebrae, as well as the best parts of its adjoining upper and lower vertebrae, and sheared cleanly my pelvis in two places. My right arm bore my full weight with its wrist broken and now sandwiched between my bum and the road beneath.

It was whilst lying there under a stark amber roadside lamp that I recognised just how vulnerable I was. Nobody but my attacker would know where I was and I doubted he could care less. I was aware I must have been on a road. Somewhere in London. In a suburb I didn’t know. At the time, I can remember being grateful for two things. Firstly, that I was still alive and secondly – that it wasn’t raining. I worried about my friend whom only minutes before I had helped escape from the pack of wolves. Hopefully, I had done enough and she was able to get to safety.

What followed was a back load of metal work which I carry to this day, 12 months off university and a very intensive course of rehabilitation. All initiated by a Nigerian taxi driver who had witnessed my fall, discounting the prick that had stabbed me.

It was during the early days of my rehabilitation whilst sitting at home, which followed my six-week jaunt in a London hospital whilst away with the fairies on morphine, that I decided I had to do something to prove to my parents and loved ones, as well as to myself, that I wasn’t going to be defined by this incident. I set my sights on climbing a mountain not unfamiliar to the Steve Prescott Foundation – Mount Kilimanjaro.

Within 18 months I had ‘bagged’ Kili and went on to finish my studies. My friend was okay and came to visit me in hospital, together with a couple of my other friends that too had sustained not insignificant injuries that night. My girlfriend and now wife, Kerry, made the trip to London as often as she could to support me.

October 2017 will mark the 21st anniversary of this fateful night and I can think of no better way to celebrate this personal milestone than revisiting Kili, with the other members of the You Are The Ref Kilimanjaro Challenge 2017 team, to help raise funds to support those less fortunate.

Thanks for taking the time to visit Assured Life Advisers' JustGiving page.  If you are able to sponsor me in support of this wonderful cause then I would very much appreciate it.

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.

Assured Life Advisers is a trading name of Camargue Chambers LLP, which is an appointed representative of CAERUS Financial Limited. CAERUS Financial Limited is part of the CAERUS Capital Group, which is wholly owned by Intrinsic Financial Services Limited. Old Mutual Wealth Holdings Limited owns 100% of the share capital of Intrinsic Financial Services Limited. CAERUS Financial Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. FCA number 497604. CAERUS Financial Limited is a limited company registered in England and Wales, registered number 06784783, registered office, Wiltshire Court, Farnsby Street, Swindon SN1 5AH.