HE wants to help transform the life of a nine-year-old Hampshire schoolboy.
Ben Burcombe-Filer knows only too well what an impact major surgery and rehabilitation can have on the life of someone born with cerebral palsy.
The Cambridge graduate, tutor and aspiring politician from Fair Oak endured ten major operations during his formative years.
So when he heard about the plight of nine-year-old Brody Craze, a fellow cerebral palsy sufferer, he felt compelled to help.
Brody has recently under gone a Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy procedure at Great Ormond Street Hospital to improve his muscle tone. It could enable him to walk unaided with the right physiotherapy.
Brody is desperate to play football and ride a bike with his brother, cousins and friends from Kings Copse School.
He is already doing brilliantly, but he needs four hours a week of specialist physiotherapy for the next two years to ensure he reaches his full potential following the potentially life-changing surgery.
So, on Saturday (October 2), Ben will spend five to six hours cycling 100km, the distance from Brody’s Hedge End home to the London hospital where he was treated, on a static bike. The epic fundraiser, which will take place at Botley Park Hotel, aims to raise £25,000 towards Brody’s ongoing rehabilitation.
Ben explained: “I am 30 now and have seen my fair share of the surgeon’s knife, so I know exactly what Brody is going through, and exactly why keeping him out of a wheelchair will change his life, because it has mine.
"I also know this surgery will spare him many of the operations I had as a teenager. It is all of this that made me feel I had to do something.
“I am no stranger to static bikes, but I am no Paralympian either. My usual gym routine involves about 30 minutes on the bike, but I expect to have to do more than ten times that on the day.
“My legs are very much underpowered compared to the average person and I know even from my training so far that this is going to hurt.
"But if it means we can get Brody out of that wheelchair it will be worth every rotation of the pedals.”
To donate, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding /100kmforbrody
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