KFA Test Analyst, Dan Hammond and his wife Anna, have walked/wheeled the South Downs Way 100-mile route.
They walked (and wheeled) the 100-mile South Downs Way route for charity with their Barbet assistance dog, ‘Bramble’ in aid of my AFK.
Dan & Anna had a fantastic time and said that the daily views from the Downs were breathtaking. Currently, their sponsorship total stands at £1,099, thanks to everyone that donated, it helped motivate them to get up and over some of the more tricky terrains.
Anna is living with Friedreich’s Ataxia which is a rare genetic condition affecting her balance, coordination and speech. The condition usually results in the individual being confined to a wheelchair within 10-20 years of the first symptoms appearing.
However, Anna is an active person and as a young adult found she was being held back by a standard wheelchair, which is when she received the support from ‘my AFK’, who provided her first ‘off-road’ wheelchair – allowing her more freedom to do the things she wanted to do!
She has benefited greatly from the support of my AFK, (formerly Action For Children) – without their support, she would have been restricted and the activities she was able to do would have been considerably reduced.
my AFK helps disabled children and young people to live independent and fulfilling lives.
The charity provides specialist mobility equipment not available on the NHS to disabled children and young people up to their 25th birthday, across the UK.
They also help disabled young people aged 19+ to develop important life and work skills so they can live more independently and move into paid employment.
During the challenge, Anna suffered 3 punctures, each taking a day to repair. Anna’s power wheelchair ran out of battery on 4 occasions I think, which isn’t initially as terminal as it sounds, as the chair will cut out, but after a few minutes thoughtful contemplation the chair will find enough power to limp on a few hundred yards before cutting out again and so on. So we were able to eventually bunny hop to a suitable vehicle accessible end point, but that is obviously quite stressful as at any point it could refuse to restart at all and we could be stuck in the middle of nowhere.
On one particular day as Anna was getting tired she toppled her chair twice in one day on uneven ground whivh meant a trip to minor injuries unit to check out a painful shoulder, luckily it was just soft tissue damage.
Dan
Oh and on one day we passed three dozen naked ramblers!!!
Dan
Dan and Anna’s supporters have helped them raise £1099.00 for the charity. The fundraising page is still open for anyone wishing to make a donation to this fantastic pair!