Martin Symons' Coast to Coast challenge

"Being Martin" is a 10-minute film about Martin Symons, made by Create Lab. The film follows his coast to coast ride in an electric wheelchair while he was being kept alive on a ventilator at night.

Martin Symons can barely walk 50 metres and needs a mask ventilator to stay alive. In spite of this, in June 2009 he completed a major challenge: journeying ‘Coast to Coast’ from Bowness-on-Solway in Cumbria, to Tynemouth in Tyne and Wear, to raise money for the Lane Fox Respiratory Unit at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

Martin, 42, has a rare condition called Klippel-Feil Syndrome which is associated with skeletal abnormalities, including a short neck, a bent spine and short limbs as well as problems with the heart and bone marrow.

Travelling in a motorised ‘Boma’ (an off-road wheelchair) and flanked by a support team of cyclists, Martin travelled an incredible 118 miles along Hadrian’s Wall over seven days. He spent up to four hours in the ‘saddle’ each day, covering around 20 miles, and sleeping in a caravan (attached to a ventilator) overnight.

The weather was sunny on the whole and he and his nine-strong support team thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. A crew filmed Martin during the journey, adding to the footage they had of him over the previous 12 months. A documentary, ‘Being Martin’, is to be screened in the near future.

Martin said: “It was an amazing week, something that I’d never thought I do. We all had barrels of banter, laughs and humour. The whole team mucked in and gelled. Someone commented that it was rare for a whole team to work so well together and get on and that was an important factor to get me from one side of England to the other.”

Martin raised a grand total of £4,196.60 for the Lane Fox Respiratory Unit Patients Association (LFRUPA), part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity. He said: “The Lane Fox Unit has helped improve my quality of life massively. They have always gone the extra mile for me, so now it’s my turn!”

Find out more about Martin on his website.

If you would like to complete your own fundraising challenge or take part in one of our exciting sponsored activities or events, then email the Fundraising team or call them on Tel: 020 7188 7744.