Local tetraplegic rolls up Everest

Three tetraplegic New Zealanders, including a Wairarapa local, have ridden their way to Everest base camp via a 1000km ride.

Last Saturday, local Catriona Williams, with Neil Cudby and Rob Creagh, used hand bikes to cover 10 Himalayan passes, some more than 5000 metres in altitude.

The project was a year in planning and required intensive training and physical preparation with the help of the New Zealand Air Force.

Spokeswoman Julie Collier said the challenge was exceedingly difficult, not only because of the distances being covered and heights achieved, but also the potholed roads negotiated without suspension.

Other challenges were breathing air like soup, sleeping rough and the dangers of altitude sickness.

Speaking from base camp, former international show jumper and founder of the CatWalk Trust for Spinal Cord Injury Research, 40 year-old Williams said: "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

She described how the three had already decided to stick together as a team when just short of the line at base camp, one of their bikes had mechanical failure.

In true Kiwi style, a pink dressing gown cord was used to tow the broken bike, so all three could cross together.

The trio were accompanied by a dozen able-bodied riders from Australia, Britain and New Zealand, including a sports doctor. The team completed the final leg on Monday and left Kathmandu on Tuesday.

They will be back in the country tomorrow night.

Their aim is to raise $1 million dollars for spinal cord injury research. So far, they have raised 600,000 dollars.

For more information and to donate see: www.catwalk.org.nz