Gregory Burns

Here's a link to Gregory's website. An amazing, inspirational guy. Great fun too!!
http://www.gregoryburns.com/


"I believe that rather than hindering my creative spirit, being stricken with polio challenged me to develop areas of my character that enhanced my message and communication skills. Speaking before international audiences of all sizes, I stress that we must learn to harness the setbacks in our lives which are what push us forward and bring us inner strength."

Ladakh

India's most remote and least populated region, Ladakh sits on the western edge of the Tibetan plateau, sandwiched between the Himalaya to the south and the Karakoram mountain range to the north With much of the region over 3,000m and the Himalaya blocking the monsoon clouds to create a high altitude desert, Ladakh is one of the highest and driest inhabited places on earth.

Ladakh is renowned for its spectacular mountain beauty and rich culture. It has strong cultural and geographical similarities with Tibet, and is sometimes called 'Little Tibet'. I found this link, which gives you an idea of what we have to look forward to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOH7mBwSVk0

Ladakh trek - Paul Fairhurst and Gregory Burns

Today I've launched a Facebook page for my next challenge - a 35km high altitude trek  in the remote, spectacularly beautiful Indian province of Ladakh, with my friend Gregory Burns a paralympic athlete, internationally recognised artist and motivational speaker.

Here's a link to the Facebook page and my first post: https://www.facebook.com/Ladakhtrek 

I’m a walking quadriplegic. In June 2011 a cycling accident left me with a C5/6/7 spinal cord injury - paralysed and with almost no sensation from the shoulders down. From the moment I regained consciousness I’ve held a passionate belief that I would recover. I’ve been left with excessive muscle tone and spasticity and constant neuropathic pain. But I can walk and I am fully functional and independent. I know that most people with this injury never walk again and many face a lifetime of serious medical complications. I know I’m very lucky, and I’m very grateful.

I have this very strong sense that opportunity lies ahead of me, and that motivates me to keep pushing myself forward. In December last year I completed a 10km walk and raised over £17,000 for research into a cure for paralysis. Now I am taking on my next challenge – a 35km, 5 day trek at high altitude, in the remote, spectacularly beautiful Indian province of Ladakh.

If you’re going to take on a really big test of physical and mental strength, who better to have alongside you for inspiration than an Olympian!

I met Gregory Burns a year ago. Gregory contracted polio as a young child, which required him to depend on leg braces and forearm crutches for mobility.  Rather than being hindered by his paralysis, Gregory harnessed it to develop his character, inner strength and creative spirit. A three time Paralympian, he set four world records and captured half a dozen medals. He is an internationally recognized painter, a motivational speaker and artist. And, I’ve found, he’s good at sowing crazy ideas for big challenges.

Very soon after we met, the idea surfaced that Gregory and I should do something together. Eventually, that something became this trek, and after months of planning, we are very nearly ready to go.

I work for Diageo, the Johnnie Walker brand owner. The Johnnie Walker brand values are all about personal progress, and its “Keep Walking” tagline is world famous. The connections between the brand and what Gregory and I strive to do kind of hit you hard between the eyes and within no time Johnnie Walker came enthusiastically on board to sponsor the trek. A photo blog and short documentary will be published on Johnnie Walker social media platforms, and we are all very excited about that!

Joining us on the trek will be Gregory’s wife Angie Tan; my therapist Viv Spanopoulos; our mountain leader Alan Ward; the film director Mike Rogers and photographer Scott Woodward; and a local team of mountain guides, ponymen and cooks.

We all have many hopes and expectations. Amongst mine is the hope that through this journey I can help to raise the profile of the efforts to find a cure for paralysis. I will be raising funds for two charities who are at the forefront of those efforts: Spinal Research and Wings for Life.

It's definitely working (whatever it is) !!!

Over the last 5 weeks there has been a significant acceleration in my progress. Why? I can't be sure, but it coincides with me:
- re-starting meridian resistive stretching with Viv Spanopoulos (who's returned from Boston to Singapore for a few months)
- switching my meds (off Baclofen, onto Norgesic, which is a mix of paracetemol and a skeletal muscle relaxant - midler than Baclofen, which left me sluggish, but for seemingly good effects)
- continuing on with the great work with Swee, who continues to help me mix it up to increase my range and speed of movement and response and improve stability and control
- also continuing to see Elaine every 3 weeks or so for her fantastic physio/ bodywork,  whilst still finding benefits from the trauma release and other exercises she gets me to do.

Swee and Viv have both noticed it. Others have too. Here's the evidence - this is just a small selection from a long list of firsts and bests over the last couple of months!

This is from just before Christmas……

Last week, I did lots of work on slopes, including a traverse across a 45 degree incline - I'll explain what that's all about soon (some very exciting news to come)

And this morning, there was all sorts of stuff going on……. first time doing this step/jump/ land exercise

….. better jack knifes than before (much better)…..

….. this was really hard work, and you can see how I fight against the tone, but I manage to relax out of it (which is something I could not do until a couple of weeks ago)…..

….. Swee always finds a way to add a level of difficulty……. 

…. but having said that, this exercise was nearly impossible just a few months back (my next improvement is to keep the ball behind my head)…..

…. and this was new - the first set was better than this one, but even in this one I have a level of stability and control I did not have before….

And all that was followed by 20 minutes of interval training on the spin bike!! 

So, all going really, really well right now. Whatever we are doing, it's definitely working. Long may it continue!!  

An awesome result!

Pretty much all donations are in now, I think, and so the time has come to wrap up the 10K fund raising. We end at a whopping £17,010 - a truly fabulous result which makes me, and all who donated too I hope, very proud indeed. Thanks from me, and on behalf of Spinal Research. 

Both 10k's nailed!!

I DID IT!!!


The race went well. Up at 4am, to load up on pre-race calories (that helped a lot during the race), before being picked up at 5am by my trainer Swee and Chris, her partner. The team walking with me were gathered by 6.15 and by 6.45 I was done with my warm up routine and we headed to the start line. We crossed the start around 7.30. The weather was exactly what I'd hoped for - cloudy, relatively cool and with some light rain thrown in half way through! The first 3km was really good, I was relaxed, my walking was smooth and the team did a great job of fending off the runners and entertaining me at the same time. Things got progressively harder over the next 4km, and Swee's support really started to count as she coached me to change gait frequently to help keep the tone under control. That worked and the eighth and ninth kilometres felt good, but I started to feel it after we passed the 9km mark and the course merged with the end of the half and full marathon. The last kilometre was very hard, as fatigue, tightness and spasticity started to take hold. That's when I brought to mind your messages of support, and your belief helped fuel mine. The last 50m was bit of a stagger to the finish line. I crossed it in 3 hr25. In dead last place! And delighted with that!!!

Sunday was a day of many PB's. My previous longest walk was 8.3km. Sunday was 10km …. or closer to 12 if you add on the walk from the car to the start and back again. I'd taken breaks in all my long training walks. On Sunday, I did the 10k without stopping. And from when we left the car to when we got back, I'd been standing for over 6 and a half hours. Typing that has brought home the huge progress I've made since I signed up for the race back in September - and of course the million miles I've come since June 2011.

 

I'd expected to be very emotional at the end of the race and since. But that's not come. Instead, I've found myself reflecting on what I learned, about myself and about my potential to go further. I always believed in my ability to finish, driven to the line by determination. But in the last few weeks I've had to face up to doubts and anxieties - about the distance, the crowds of people, the time it would take, the heat, the risk of falling (which as some of you know I've done occasionally the last few months, too often, sometimes painfully), the intensity of the neuropathic pain. I found myself feeling fear, in a way I haven't experienced before. But last week I founds ways to deal with it. That worked, and on Sunday I beat it. Another lesson learned on this journey - perhaps my biggest yet. 

Now to the fund raising. Take a deep breath. Right now, the total raised stands at £13,133. And that's not the end of it. I know there's quite a bit more to come, including from Max and Amy's class mates. A couple of weeks ago I went to school to speak to them about spinal cord injuries, paralysis and the work Spinal Research is doing to find a cure. The story left a big, positive impact. It feels really special to have the kids engaged like that. I'll find out later this week, but I expect the money that the kids will raise to take the donations well over £14,000.  

I pinch myself when I think of that number. The response to this has exhausted my vocabulary. When you flew past the original £5k target, I was overwhelmed. When you passed £7.5k, I genuinely felt humbled. Now I don't know what to say. I just want you to know that you have moved me very, very deeply. More importantly, that's a big boost to the work being funded by Spinal Research. I feel like we have made a big difference. That's a privilege, and something to celebrate.

I am absolutely delighted. And very proud.

Paul

Thank you

One target met! Very proud and extremely grateful. Thanks everyone. Donations are still rolling in - next stop 11k!

One week til race day......

www.justgiving.com/Paul-Fairhurst

Kids on board!!!

Max & Amy's classes are doing sponsored events to raise funds for Spinal Research. I went to school yesterday to talk to the kids about spinal cord injuries, paralysis and the need to help find a cure. They were all brilliant and all of them said they will raise at least $50 - if that happens, that will take me over the 10,000 target - it will be great if the kids are the ones to get me across the line!

I heard from one of the mums to say her son was very moved and impacted. Very special to hear that

The race route...

Here it is..... the route for the 10k. Just under two weeks to go!!

Big progress

A couple of weeks ago I saw someone at the gym doing Bosu squats. I remember watching them, recalling how I did that exercise pre accident and wondering when I might do it again - if ever. On Tuesday, I got my answer! I can't describe how good this felt. I'm still excited days later! Added to that, I made great progress on sit ups - WITH a medicine ball! - and did some good work on the punch bag (which seems to be helping release upper body tightness). Really happy!!!