October 2024 will see a spectacular challenge take place which aims to raise £100,000 to benefit Spinal Research and Whizz Kidz.
Support Shaun and the teamWhen: October 24 – 30
What: Shaun Gash, Michelle-Anna Moffatt and Liam Morris aim to set a Guinness World Record becoming the first paraplegics to canoe 240km of the Zambezi River in six days. They will start at Chirundu, Zambia, and will finish at the Mozambique border.
Who: Shaun Gash, his wife Dawn and eldest daughter Sharna; Michelle Moffatt, Liam Morris and his father Darren.
Fundraising: They aim to raise £100,000 for the charities Spinal Research and Whizz Kidz.
Practical stuff:
- They will be using Canadian canoes and carrying all their gear – wheelchairs, tents, equipment, medical supplies.
- They will have a team of guides and a support ground crew throughout the challenge
- Using seats with special pressure sore mats as they could be canoeing up to seven hours a day
- Michelle has a stoma bag.
- They will be using special catheters to minimise the risk of infection.
Shaun Gash, 53, from Morecambe, Lancashire.
Shaun was a 20-year-old trainee psychiatric nurse in 1991 when he was thrown out of the back window of a car that crashed.
He hit the road 100 yards from the scene with multiple injuries and was given two days to live. Shaun survived but suffered a complete fracture of his spine and was paralysed from the chest down.
Since his accident the father of three has completed a series of epic challenges including summiting Kilimanjaro, skydiving and completing 100KM–plus obstacle courses raising thousands for charity.
In 2018, he had to have his lower right leg amputated after a bid to reach the summit of Ben Nevis. But that has not stopped Shaun’s appetite and drive for new challenges.
Just weeks before travelling to Zambia to take on the Zambezi River, Shaun will be taking part in an adaptive scuba diving challenge.
“I’ve always pushed and challenged myself and while my old life ended that night in 1991, I was given a new life and I want to make the most of it.
“By challenging myself I hope to inspire others. If I can change a person’s mindset in a positive way then that’s amazing and I’m always really humbled when people say I have made a difference.”
Shaun, international product specialist for RGK Wheelchairs, added: “I don’t want to look back and think ‘I wish I’d done that’, I want to look back and think ‘I did that’. And along the way I’m supporting two great charities – it’s all about giving back.
“I would not wish a spinal cord injury on anyone but I would not change what’s happened to me, who I am and what I’ve done and where it has taken me.”
He will be joined on the challenge by his wife of 29 years Dawn and eldest daughter Sharna, 24.
Liam Morris, 34, from Askham-in-Furness, Lancashire
Super sporty Liam played a range of sports as a child but his passion was motocross, racing at events across the country most weekends.
But in 2013 Liam suffered a serious spinal cord injury when he was catapulted over the front of his bike going over a jump on a practice lap. The bike landed on top of him, leaving the 23-year-old paralysed from the waist down.
“I was conscious and remembering saying to my Dad “I’m goosed.”
Liam was airlifted to hospital and spent nine months at Southport spinal injuries unit.
“I had friends and family visiting every day and that was a big part of how I approached my injury. From day one I’ve never been down or depressed about it.
“You can feel sorry for yourself but it won’t get you anywhere or change things so my attitude has always been to make the best of things.”
Liam has channelled that positive mental attitude into his life over the last 11 years. He’s been able to continue in his job as an instrumentation engineer at BAE Systems in Barrow and to pursue a range of sports – from wheelchair racing to table tennis.
Liam made the Team GB development squad for adaptive rowing and is a regular wheelchair basketball player with Lancaster Bulldogs – which is where he met Shaun.
“I’m 6’ 5” so a natural for basketball!”
“There really is nothing I can’t do, I just have to adapt and adjust things to find a way which is why when I heard about Shaun’s plan to canoe down the Zambezi I wanted to be part of it.
“I know it is going to be a real challenge – not just the canoeing but also the temperatures, the environment, toileting and practically getting in and out of the canoes – but we will find a way to overcome all of these challenges. It’s going to be amazing!”
“If just one person sees what we are doing and is inspired to think that anything is possible in their life too then that would be just awesome.”
Michelle Anna Moffatt, 42, from Dumbarton.
Michelle was an ICU Nurse at the Golden Jubilee Hospital, Glasgow, in November 2019 when she bent down to pick up a pen on a night shift and her life changed completely.
Michelle thought she had just pulled a muscle, but a prolapsed disc had gone into her spinal cord. Post-surgery complications then caused a bleed on her spine leaving the Mum-of-four paralysed from the waist down.
Having to come to terms with life in a wheelchair and the loss of your career during a pandemic, with little access to rehabilitation and support services, was almost unbearable.
“I was in a very dark place and was not OK. I seriously thought about suicide and it took a long time for my head to get into a good place,” said stoma wearer Michelle.
“I was so nervous about doing anything in a wheelchair but then I started going to the gym, losing weight, getting healthy and began meeting other people living amazing lives with a spinal cord injury – including Shaun.”
“My life is so different to what it was but I’m proud of where I am now and what I’m doing. This challenge is not only a chance to raise a lot of money for amazing charities but to show that life in a wheelchair is still a great life and one full of possibilities.”
Michelle suffered sudden onset alopecia in 2015 and now runs her own specialist hair loss and wig company Mimo Wigs.
She added: “The things I worry about are the temperature – it’s going to be very hot! – possible pressure sores and managing six days on the water without access to normal toileting conditions.
“I’m under no illusions it’s going to be hard but I’m so excited about doing something I would never have dreamed of doing as an abled bodied person. “I want to show my kids that no matter what challenges you face in life, you do your best and anything is possible.”
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