#BackUp #SpinalCircuit #GoTheSocialDistance

I aim to walk 100km between now and 15 May to fundraise for Back Up. Please support me if you can.

Spinal injury is deeply traumatic. Paralysis changes everything. It tears up plans and leaves people very frightened. The future instantly becomes uncertain and can look very bleak. 

Newly injured people and their loved ones need support from people who have been there and understand the challenges. Back Up provides that support through crucial counselling and training services to spinally injured people and their families. 

COVID-19 is changing every aspect of life for everyone. But some things remain the same. People will still be spinally injured and paralysed In the coming weeks and months. On average, six people sustain a spinal cord injury every day in the UK. Over the next 3 months around 540 people will be spinally injured. 

That trauma will come at a time when health services are pushed to and beyond their limits, and when access to an ICU increases the risk of COVID-19 infection. 

At the same time, recently injured people and their families need support as they continue to adjust to life with spinal injury. Many long term injured people need ongoing support. The acute pressures on the NHS and social care services will mean they are more reliant on the third sector than ever.

The national and global battle against COVID-19 does not mean Back Up's work goes on hold. Rather it increases the need for their services.

COVID-19 has left Back Up facing a dramatic loss of income. It faces a threat to its future. I am trying to help fill some of that income gap and to help Back Up get through this and come out stronger on the other side.

Please help me if you can.

I know that everyone is facing their own financial pressures and anxieties, Many who would ordinarily donate will feel unable to do so right now. If that's you, please don't worry. I understand, completely. But  even just making people aware of Back Up and their need for support will help. If you are able to share this appeal, please do so.. Thank you.

I am spinally injured (C5/6/7 incomplete). A 2011 cycling accident left me paralysed from the shoulders down. Initially I faced a bleak prognosis, including a less than 10% chance of ever walking again. I am fortunate to have beaten those odds and rebuilt my life. I learned to walk again. My mobility remains impaired by tone, spasticity and pain but I have overcome that to complete several major walking challenges. 

I can and I will use my good fortune to help others who are spinally injured, and the organisations that help them