2 HSPers raising money for charity
Here are the inspiring stories of two amazing HSPers from England, a 49-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man, taking on enormous personal physical challenges, and raising money for charity at the same time.
Rendcomb Airfield, located west of London, England, played host to an unusual event with an extraordinary woman who took on the challenge of wing walking.
Sherrill Semple, 49, who has Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia, said: “I’ve always wanted to do this but I’ve always been told it wasn’t possible for people like me but I thought, why not?”
Sherrill did the daredevil event at the Gloucestershire base to raise money for Flying Scholarships For Disabled People.
Sherrill was awarded a scholarship to learn to fly a light aircraft in 2014 by the charity ‘Flying Scholarships For Disabled People’ and after only a few weeks she was flying solo.
But the former Good Housekeeping model decided to take on an even bigger challenge. “My HSP began to really affect my life about ten years ago,” she said. “I lost the ability to run and my walking became very slow and stiff. It knocked me sideways impacting on my outlook. Not only with what I had lost but how people judged me. I wanted people to know that my walking difficultly was not the whole picture of me”.
“When I learnt to fly that changed me. People would stare at my walking and I’d think what they don’t know is I’m a pilot, and that gave me a massive confidence boost. I think wing-walking will do the same thing and my flying scholarship gave me the confidence to try.”
SOURCE: GloucestershireLive 13:09, 21 SEP 2017
Weekend daredevil defies stereotype disability with wing walk challenge
by Kim Horton
Full article: http://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/weekend-daredevil-defies-stereotype-disability-477744
A young wheelchair user from Sunderland in north-east England has taken on the world’s first fully accessible fun run in London.
Brandon Barker represented the North East in the world’s first fully accessible fun run, Parallel London, at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park over the weekend, which is open to everyone of all ages and abilities.
The 19 year old has HSP and represents disabled children and young people from across the North East on the Whizz-Kidz ‘Kidz Board’.
He received his manual wheelchair from Whizz-Kidz when he was nine-years-old.
He took on the 10km challenge to raise vital funds for Whizz-Kidz and the event comes at a time when thousands of disabled children and young people need the right equipment and support to fit their young lives.
Brandon said:
“Taking part in Parallel London and doing the 10km challenge was amazing! It didn’t feel like a race and it was great to be able to get involved with everyone side by side. Whizz-Kidz gave me the wheelchair that I needed and they changed my life so to be able to raise funds for them and help another young wheelchair user is a great feeling.”
He was joined by several ambassadors and celebrities, including Channel 4 sports reporter and Whizz-Kidz Patron, Jordan Jarrett-Bryan, the 12th Earl of Shaftsbury, Nick Ashley-Cooper; actress Samantha Renke and former England U21’s rugby player, Matt Hampton, who became a tetraplegic after an injury during scrum practice.
Cecilia Magill, senior events fundraising manager for Whizz-Kidz, said:
“A huge thank you goes to all of our participants, like Brandon, who took part in Parallel London this weekend to raise funds for Whizz-Kidz. It was great to see such an inclusive event and everyone getting involved. There are still thousands of disabled children and young people who need the right mobility equipment and support to achieve their full potential. These vital funds will go a long way towards helping us to transform the lives of young wheelchair users in the UK.”
Whizz-Kidz has transformed the lives of over 20,000 disabled children and young people since 1990. It supports 2-25 year-olds by providing the vital mobility equipment, support and life skills they need, to help them fulfil their potential and achieve their goals.
SOURCE: Sun FM News, 12:38pm 5th September 2017
Young wheelchair user from Sunderland completes 10k challenge
Full article: https://www.sun-fm.com/news/local/2372112/young-wheelchair-user-from-sunderland-completes-10k-challenge/