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A fundraising page has gone live with the aim of seeing Michael Bonney out on the trail once more with the help of a customised Boma wheelchair.
Having suffered life changing damage to his spinal cord in an accident at his local Eden Valley sportive, Michael is now tetraplegic (paralysed from the neck down). This hasn’t stopped the former Orange lynchpin from declaring his interest in returning to work in the industry, or the dream of soon returning to the saddle.
This will hopefully be achieved with the purchase of a £14,000 Boma four wheeled trike, which will be specially built for Michael with tailored controls as he can only move his head and neck.
There are other ways to support the fundraising effort too, with the backing of any of the below:
Ride for Michael trustees John Chennnells and Mike Summers are taking part in one of the toughest mountain bike events the Strathpuffer 24 hour endurance race on 17/18 January 2015 you can support them with your donations here along with a message of support.
Janet Crame who is an old friend of Michael’s and worked with him at Orange Mountain Bikes is doing a channel swim in aid of this appeal, you can read about it here http://www.gofundme.com/jmnhjw
Another friend Claire Myler is doing the Cheshire Cat sportive an 80 mile ride around Cheshire, her gofundme page is here http://www.gofundme.com/jrwi9s
BikeBiz has this interview with Bonney in which he says of the crash: "I don’t want anybody to stop riding bikes because they think they might injure themselves. I want people to get out there and ride bikes. I’ve spent all of my working life getting people excited about bikes and even though spinal injuries happen to cyclists, and especially to mountain bikers, it’s very rare. I was unlucky, shit happens. Get out there and ride, for me."
