Short and sweet!
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| John Foster and myself BBC Radio Tees |
Here's the interview http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02tv3yy
I have previously been invited to do a few radio interviews upon BBC Radio Tees. Each time it's been excellent. My first interview was a number of years ago and it was all to do with being sponsored on the Bartlett Tendon. I established a friendship with the designer of the BTK Brian Bartlett some years ago and it just went from strength to strength. It may sound weird but upon the very first time I saw Brian riding on his unique sporting design knee on Youtube, he became my hero and a guy I very much looked up to and respected. Now that I know Brian a lot better having spent a little time riding with him in his home state of Seattle and just hanging with him I admire him even more. His work ethos and passion towards what he does is second to none. This is a guy who is most definitely not into prosthetics and design to make a quick buck. Each one of his BTK units is his baby and is meticulously put together in his basement.
My second radio interview was over the phone and it was based around my first ever triathlon with Arctic ONE. At the time I was blade less, however with the help of Arctic ONE and The Challenged Athletes foundation that was soon to change. Challenged Athletes proivided me with an Ossur flex run, whilst Arctic ONE went on to help me raise over £8500 to fund the fit and manufacture of a running prosthesis.
Within that time Arctic ONE also asked me would I like to become a sports ambassador and represent their foundation. Wow what a huge honour. I don't consider myself an athlete. I'm just an ordinary bloke who has been through a set of rather unfortunate set of circumstances. I guess what shines through with me is my determination, although people could also call it plain old pig headedness. When people say "you can't do that", well that's like a red rag to a bull.
I have been through a lot of crap in my life, maybe more than some and less than others, but none the less crap. However rather than look at it in a negative way I much prefer to learn and use past negative experiences to hopefully improve my future ones. And hey if I can help someone avoid the pitfalls and show them a better way, well that's all good.
So moving on after my scan and being told my cancer had progressed I will admit I had a few days of "awww crap, what now" You see I had been planning on completing my second triathlon on the 28th June down at Dorney with Arctic ONE. Because of requiring treatment and feeling a bit unwell I knew this wasn't going to happen. Anythoo one night as I lay awake unable to sleep I just got this idea "hey you can still ride a little ways". So the next morning i got in touch with Matt and Bex at Arctic ONE and divulged my plan to ride as many times as i could around Dorney. I had only left myself about a month to raise some sponsorship so just started posting upon social media in the hope I could get a few quid. To be honest people have been awesome and I have raised a further £800 or so, not bad in such a short space of time.For me its a reflection of the awesome people I have in my life and the important role I try to play in creating awareness of disability and obviously cancer related illnesses.
I sent a email off to BBC Radio Tees and John Foster. John is a smashing fellow and great presenter. I just informed him of my current situation and what I was up to and the next thing I know is Nicola from BBC Radio Tees is calling me asking could I come on the show to do an interview.
On the 30th June my dad and myself made our way down to Middlesbrough and the BBC Radio Tees building, where John led me through a very enjoyable interview. It was a little nerve racking as it was live, however I think I did well and there were some very positive comments coming into the radio station based on my story. It always fills me with a great sense of pride when people pass positive comments and allows me to just think to myself "wow you really have come along way".
A huge thank you to BBC Radio Tees for giving me yet another opportunity to tell of my adventures and get a few plugs in.
You can still donate to Arctic ONE through my Virgin Just Giving Page
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