Nottingham student who broke his back is taking on the world’s largest half marathon
Jared Lewis is raising money to help those who have suffered similar injuries
A University of Nottingham student who broke his back during a climbing accident will be taking on the world’s largest half marathon this weekend.
Jared Lewis broke his back two years ago when he fell around 10 metres whilst climbing in the Peak District.
The engineering student is now taking on the Great North Run for Spinal Research along with around 60,000 other competitors in which he’ll run 13.1 miles from Newcastle Upon Tyne to South Shields, Derby World reports.
He was treated at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital and thanks to the help of Edale Mountain Rescue, the hospital was able to carry out major surgery and fuse six of his vertebrae after the fall.
After six weeks of bedrest and six moths of rehabilitation, Jared knows it is a privilege to be taking part in this event. He said: “I had seriously broken two vertebrae and damaged another two and now have titanium rods down either side of my spinal cord but I’m so lucky not to have suffered more serious damage.
“I could so easily have ended up paralysed with a totally life-changing injury, and so I really wanted to take on this challenge to raise money for such a great charity and to help people in a far worse situation than me.”
Spinal Research is the UK’s most prominent charity when it comes to funding the discovery and development of effective treatments for chronic spinal cord injuries with a goal to eventually cure paralysis.
A spokesperson for the charity said: “We’re in touching distance of function restoring treatments and we’re so grateful to our amazing supporters like Jared who are helping to raise vital funds to bring our vision of curing paralysis a step closer.”
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You can support Jared’s fundraising here.
Feature Image Credit: Just Giving
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