DAILY LIVING MARTIN’S MOUNTAIN
CONQUERING EVERYDAY MOUNTAINS Our #EverydayMountains competition was a great success. Here we meet one of the lucky prize winners
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mma Cawood, 46, from Leeds, West Yorkshire, loved the idea of taking on a big challenge like Mount Snowdon when she saw the mountain trike was the star prize of our #EverydayMountains competition, but didn’t think in her wildest dreams that she’d win! Emma says: “I was absolutely thrilled. I rang my family and just kept saying it couldn’t be true because things like this don’t happen to me. We all enter competitions at some time in our lives but never really think we’ll win!”
Diagnosed with cauda equina syndrome (CES) in February 2020, Emma spent four months in hospital during the first Covid-19 lockdown. There was no visiting allowed for most of that time, which was incredibly hard for Emma, husband Phil and their sons Max, 21 and Theo, 15. For Emma, having the trike will open so many more opportunities. She explained: “It means I can access more places, spend more time with family doing fun things and take on more challenges myself. I’m very excited about what I can get up to in the future.” Our vice president Martin Hibbert presented Emma with her prize. She said: “Having followed Martin’s story, it was great to meet him. I don’t think I’ll ever be as ambitious, but you never know. If someone had told me three years ago, I’d be planning a climb up a mountain, I would have laughed.” Now she has the trike, Emma plans to climb Mount Snowdon next year. She said: “I’m really looking forward to pushing myself. Since my injury I’ve found that setting goals is my coping mechanism. However big or small, these goals are my mountains.
THE #EverydayMountains COMPETITION When SIA’s vice president, Martin Hibbert, scaled Mount Kilimanjaro last year, he proved that, with the right support, disabled people can literally climb mountains. To inspire others to tackle their own personal challenges, we launched the #EverydayMountains prize competition to provide accessible equipment (including the mountain trike Martin used), support packages, and experiences to people with spinal cord injuries (SCI).
“In the beginning these were small – like sitting up without falling over or being able to move around in a wheelchair without dragging objects. They progressed to going out alone, learning to get up and down kerbs and transferring without a sliding board. “My goals are not as frequent now, but there are still many challenges I’d like to try. I will keep striving to push myself!”
Meet other #EverydayMountains winners in the winter issue of Forward
The prizes We had an incredible 200 applicants who shared stories of how these prizes would enable them to go outdoors, spend time with family, improve their fitness, or simply access equipment. A panel of judges (pictured right) selected our lucky winners. Thanks to our generous sponsors for helping make this possible – Bolt Burdon Kemp, Fletchers Group, HCC solicitors and Key Group. Thanks also to our prize donors, including Williams Racing, Leigh Day, VIM Healthcare, Minster Law, Active Hands, BundleBean, PYC mobility, Josh Landmann, Dustine West, and Elevated.
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ISSUE 172 AUTUMN 2023