Wow hey well I’m excited okay I’ve got a
great story to tell you today I think
it’s cool and I think it’s fun but
unfortunately I’ve got to start it at
this photo which is not a cool moment
okay but we’re not going to dwell on it
this is me four years ago performing in
a stunt show I was a professional
mountain bike rider of 25 years but this
photo just moments after it I had a
crash and in that crash I sustained a
spinal cord injury which was devastating
to my career but what I’m gonna do to
keep this moving fun and cool right
we’re gonna we’re gonna skip forward an
hour from this photo to where I think it
started getting cool okay so we’re gonna
skip past the very tense moments with
paramedics and a dawning realization of
what this might mean to me and a very
noisy helicopter ride to an hour from
here where I was in one of those MRI
scanners you know like one of those
claustrophobic tunnels I was all alone
for the first time since the accident
and there was these magnets droning away
around me and I was finally in a place
where I could ever think right what
what’s going on and I’ll be honest I was
in a lot of pain around my midriff died
was kind of hypersensitive and then
below that I could feel nothing and I
had no movement and it was really scary
did I say this was get fun and cool it’s
gonna get fun and cool but I was in
turmoil in all honesty I was thinking
all the things you would expect
someone would think in that situation
how am I going to work you know I’m
never going to walk again wheelchairs
how am I going to be a good dad how am I
going to be a good husband all that
stuff but I’ve got to admit something
today that I’ve not retold many people
underneath all the turmoil I’m already
starting to smile a little bit
underneath the turmoil there was a
genuine excitement which sounds weird
but bear with me in all the turmoil I’ve
been thinking through some scenarios
like what is it like in a wheelchair
like what’s it like being four foot tall
all the time and all that kind of stuff
but my competitive sportsman brain was
starting to kick in and I was starting
to think like so who’s the best
paraplegic in the world like
who’s that guy or girl must be pretty
impressive person and like what’s the
world rankings of paraplegia like how
did you get in the top hundred of being
a paraplegic I can’t help it that’s the
way I think and I was I was excited and
I instantly know although it was a dumb
thought it was also a very useful one
I could feel it had energy and movement
it was positive and I nurtured it from
that moment on I kept hold of it I knew
that it was an important moment for me
and I I really used that energy to move
forward in my life and let me explain
why I was excited by it because I’ve
been riding bikes for a long time and
often I would get excited by an idea it
was quite often an idea as you can see
that probably wasn’t a good one
some people were try and talk you out of
it
that’s stupid Martin you might hurt
yourself or you could potentially get
arrested for riding on bridges illegally
and things like that and the excitement
and that energy that I was recognizing
in the MRI scanner that’s what I used to
use to get past that in a voice that was
saying I shouldn’t and the people
actually physically saying to me don’t
and I would use this energy that was a
particularly silly bit I would use that
energy to get stuff done so I knew it
was important I went into hospital after
the accident for five months I had 12
weeks bed rest which is a Fleming long
layin that’s like the longest lay in any
of us need that’s probably the longest
laying in this room any no yeah
definitely long as Lane and I also spent
that time rehabilitating getting some
Fitness back getting used to the very
basics of what life meant in a
wheelchair I was also on a ward with
lots of other people who had spinal cord
injuries and I was amazed at the
bravery I saw in these other people just
everyday people that had this disruption
in their life that they hadn’t been
expecting and it’s incredible to see how
this human spirit comes through and and
finds a way to get back and progress
from stuff that can be devastating and
I’d come out of hospital inspired by
that and with that energy so I come out
of hospital inspired and with a mantra I
guess III used it a lot it was if I’m
gonna be paralyzed well then I may as
well be really good it I may as well
just be the best one I can be getting
that top hundred as well as thinking it
started with the basics things like this
escalator looks like a simple problem
but in a wheelchair actually an
escalator is pretty tricky you need to
practice especially going down because
you have to go down facing the same way
you would as up so you have this moment
of like oh my god I hope I’m right and
then a security guard chases you down it
you’re not allowed on here with
wheelchairs and I’m not a pram
so it start with the basics but like I
said I I really wanted to be as good at
this as I could be and I thought sport
was where I was going to find my fund my
niche and and use some of the experience
I’ve had in my my riding career so I
started hunting around what sports could
I try and I tried loads of things and
Rohan cycling and I tried tennis have
you ever noticed they wheelchair tennis
players they’ve got a hold of tennis
racquet and push a wheelchair which is
like that’s two things so I couldn’t do
that I could hit the ball on a spot
where else did I try well I tried
basketball but I couldn’t I couldn’t
throw basketballs before my accident and
the chair hadn’t improved it so I didn’t
but I did try wheelchair racing which is
what you can see here and you’ve
probably seen this on like the
Paralympics going around a track or the
marathon London Marathon you see these
guys and they’re amazing and I thought I
had a pretty strong upper body from my
ride and I thought this is where I’m
gonna find I’m gonna find my moment this
is my one and only day racing
wheelchairs just simply because this is
a hundred meter race this photos sort of
annoys me actually it’s 100 meter racing
I’m the person there with the the black
helmet a little red line on it blue
t-shirt I’m lined up ready the girl just
to this side with the pink purple helmet
and pink purple matching wheelchair
right she beat me she’s 12 years old
now all right wait wait wait right she
beat me by 60 meters yeah so kayaking
right is a really cool war
I love I I love this video
I went hunting around on the internet
trying to find something else after the
wheelchair racing disaster and I found
kayaking these boats are incredible they
are super long really really narrow and
and mega fast and I managed to get in
touch with the coach of the GB team and
he asked me to come over try out like
we’ll come and try out and we’ve got a
space on the GB team right for someone
wayne laughing wait right what for
someone with my disability category I’m
like this is it so I went along free our
drive very excited took my wife Lisa and
my son Alfie came see daddy get picked
for the team and I went kayaking for the
first time now when I got on this got on
this boat I had a moment of panic
because like I said they’re pretty
wobbly and I was slightly concerned and
I said to my wife Lisa it was just the
side of the Jay you know what I’m a bit
worried about this beau is pretty tricky
to balance and that I’m about to set
sail and the coach says to me he’s just
holding the front of the boat just by
the J and he says don’t worry just you
just kind of balance it with your core
and I’m like okay some really important
information has been lost in our email
communication because
I haven’t got a call right that’s what
the wheelchairs about right I don’t know
why I didn’t get it but he pushes me out
okay
and I’m strapped in with this big velcro
strap so you can’t fall out the boat I
float out a little bit and a bit of a
wobble and then it just goes blue the
other way and I’m literally sat in it
perfectly set right but but the bottom
of the rivers there like I’m upside down
like I sure didn’t have there or I was
just like oh my god I’m like looking at
mud and fishes and right ok and I’m
trying to rip this velcro thing off of
my waist to get out of the boat and I
managed to get out enough to get a
breath of air just long enough to see my
son Alfie looking at me like dad’s
drowning like that looks bad I go back
under I haven’t come away from the boat
for some reason because my feet have got
kind of caught up in the boat and I sort
of struggle my way out it’s really
there’s a lot of splashing and a lot of
I’m not making the waves in this sport
like I planned and I’m yeah I miss a
mess I I get to the edge and I am one
I’m freezing and – I feel pretty stupid
I get lifted out the water and I’m just
kind of annoyed because I’m like I mean
I’m used to succeeding in sport that’s
that’s what I’ve always strived to do
and this was not that I get put back in
the boat again I might put me back in
that boat because I can do this they put
me back in flow out you probably guessed
it was a horror show I come back out the
war again I’m even cold I’m embarrassed
to admit now that it took me four more
attempts right to realize right I don’t
kayak I like no I’m not a kayaker okay
and I come out of that water and I just
felt so humiliated I I’d gone I just a
three-hour drive to get to this place
with a lot of ambition in my mind and
that excitement and this was not what I
was after
so we had a very quiet drive home but
halfway back my son’s died laughing in
the back of the car laughing at and he
was like well did you see that cafe just
next to the jetty you know wherever was
and everyone’s inside having coffees
from the cold watching I was like yeah
yeah and he said well imagine how that
scene look to those people in that why
do they keep putting that poor guy back
in he clearly can’t do it terrible mean
people like I’m like don’t put me back
in the boat and like get back in the
boat awful you know what since my
accident I would never able to get bike
riding out of my mind
I was looking for where I would find use
for my skill set but I’d always presumed
bike riding would be there I I didn’t
really know how but I knew I’d want to
do it and the problem was no one was
doing it no one was riding two-wheeled
mountain bikes who were was paralyzed
and it just wasn’t happening so I got to
thinking how I could do it and I found
the answer watching the Sochi
Paralympics I don’t if you’ve ever seen
these six key races they’ve got like a a
single ski and then they’re in this kind
of bucket seats and they go absolutely
howling down snowy mountains with like
these crutches on either side with
little skis on the end and I was
watching that and I thought wow why
hasn’t anyone ever put one
those seats on a mountain bike like
that’s that’s what I need I need
something to really hold me securely on
the bike and then once I’m rolling we’re
golden it’ll be great and I started
asking some people in the industry you
know could I get this done and some of
them were like you know and we could do
that and in other people were like hang
on a minute like you need like to sort
be a pedal you know to keep momentum and
obviously you know stability and stuff
like that valid points and I thought
well no actually because all you need is
a hill and then gravity is like free
energy it’s so eco it’s just like let’s
go I’ll sure it’s worked they also said
think about stopping I was like yeah
we’ll get to that so right this is me
right a year and a half after my
accident out with my friends on the top
of a mountain and I can’t tell you how
amazing this fell to go riding with my
mates once I got rolling it was
incredible what was incredible
experience I had with my friends it was
just such a team effort and getting out
riding on the bikes I had that kind of
like cheek ache for days afterwards
because I’d smiled so hard it was an
amazing experience and I got back riding
and that video we put out on the
Internet right and it got it got
millions of views on like YouTube and
Facebook and Instagram and that stuff
and there was so much noise in fact my
phone I was getting so many
notifications my phone’s ding broke you
know when you’re getting over to you
guys ding ding it broke I broke my phone
so I’m thinking right millions of years
right that’s like what you reckon that’s
like top hundred I’d say I’d say I’ve I
think I’ve made it into the top hundred
paraplegics in my opinion
you know what’s important from my story
I think is that that moment in the MRI
scanner was really important for me
because who would have thought before
that moment you know like seeing me with
that injury that some of the best days
of me riding bikes were ahead of me you
know it wasn’t the end of the career was
just a change in it and I have traveled
the world since my accident I’ve ridden
in international events I rode iconic
places that that I would never have
dreamed of going before and had
experiences on my bike that have just
been incredible and I don’t think many
people would have said that was coming
you know so I think there’s an important
message there and I think it’s that
excitement and that energy that made
that possible because that’s passion you
know that’s that’s when you’re
passionate about saying and you want to
get done when you’re passionate about
things you want to do in your lives and
decisions you want to make it’s very
easy to put up barricades of excuses and
blockades of reasons why you can’t or
make obstacles out of disabilities but
when you’ve got that passion and you’ve
got that excitement and you let it come
through and you let it steer you you can
just create a path around all those
barriers and you can achieve great
things and that is what I wish for you
guys Thanks
[Applause]
[Music]
great story to tell you today I think
it’s cool and I think it’s fun but
unfortunately I’ve got to start it at
this photo which is not a cool moment
okay but we’re not going to dwell on it
this is me four years ago performing in
a stunt show I was a professional
mountain bike rider of 25 years but this
photo just moments after it I had a
crash and in that crash I sustained a
spinal cord injury which was devastating
to my career but what I’m gonna do to
keep this moving fun and cool right
we’re gonna we’re gonna skip forward an
hour from this photo to where I think it
started getting cool okay so we’re gonna
skip past the very tense moments with
paramedics and a dawning realization of
what this might mean to me and a very
noisy helicopter ride to an hour from
here where I was in one of those MRI
scanners you know like one of those
claustrophobic tunnels I was all alone
for the first time since the accident
and there was these magnets droning away
around me and I was finally in a place
where I could ever think right what
what’s going on and I’ll be honest I was
in a lot of pain around my midriff died
was kind of hypersensitive and then
below that I could feel nothing and I
had no movement and it was really scary
did I say this was get fun and cool it’s
gonna get fun and cool but I was in
turmoil in all honesty I was thinking
all the things you would expect
someone would think in that situation
how am I going to work you know I’m
never going to walk again wheelchairs
how am I going to be a good dad how am I
going to be a good husband all that
stuff but I’ve got to admit something
today that I’ve not retold many people
underneath all the turmoil I’m already
starting to smile a little bit
underneath the turmoil there was a
genuine excitement which sounds weird
but bear with me in all the turmoil I’ve
been thinking through some scenarios
like what is it like in a wheelchair
like what’s it like being four foot tall
all the time and all that kind of stuff
but my competitive sportsman brain was
starting to kick in and I was starting
to think like so who’s the best
paraplegic in the world like
who’s that guy or girl must be pretty
impressive person and like what’s the
world rankings of paraplegia like how
did you get in the top hundred of being
a paraplegic I can’t help it that’s the
way I think and I was I was excited and
I instantly know although it was a dumb
thought it was also a very useful one
I could feel it had energy and movement
it was positive and I nurtured it from
that moment on I kept hold of it I knew
that it was an important moment for me
and I I really used that energy to move
forward in my life and let me explain
why I was excited by it because I’ve
been riding bikes for a long time and
often I would get excited by an idea it
was quite often an idea as you can see
that probably wasn’t a good one
some people were try and talk you out of
it
that’s stupid Martin you might hurt
yourself or you could potentially get
arrested for riding on bridges illegally
and things like that and the excitement
and that energy that I was recognizing
in the MRI scanner that’s what I used to
use to get past that in a voice that was
saying I shouldn’t and the people
actually physically saying to me don’t
and I would use this energy that was a
particularly silly bit I would use that
energy to get stuff done so I knew it
was important I went into hospital after
the accident for five months I had 12
weeks bed rest which is a Fleming long
layin that’s like the longest lay in any
of us need that’s probably the longest
laying in this room any no yeah
definitely long as Lane and I also spent
that time rehabilitating getting some
Fitness back getting used to the very
basics of what life meant in a
wheelchair I was also on a ward with
lots of other people who had spinal cord
injuries and I was amazed at the
bravery I saw in these other people just
everyday people that had this disruption
in their life that they hadn’t been
expecting and it’s incredible to see how
this human spirit comes through and and
finds a way to get back and progress
from stuff that can be devastating and
I’d come out of hospital inspired by
that and with that energy so I come out
of hospital inspired and with a mantra I
guess III used it a lot it was if I’m
gonna be paralyzed well then I may as
well be really good it I may as well
just be the best one I can be getting
that top hundred as well as thinking it
started with the basics things like this
escalator looks like a simple problem
but in a wheelchair actually an
escalator is pretty tricky you need to
practice especially going down because
you have to go down facing the same way
you would as up so you have this moment
of like oh my god I hope I’m right and
then a security guard chases you down it
you’re not allowed on here with
wheelchairs and I’m not a pram
so it start with the basics but like I
said I I really wanted to be as good at
this as I could be and I thought sport
was where I was going to find my fund my
niche and and use some of the experience
I’ve had in my my riding career so I
started hunting around what sports could
I try and I tried loads of things and
Rohan cycling and I tried tennis have
you ever noticed they wheelchair tennis
players they’ve got a hold of tennis
racquet and push a wheelchair which is
like that’s two things so I couldn’t do
that I could hit the ball on a spot
where else did I try well I tried
basketball but I couldn’t I couldn’t
throw basketballs before my accident and
the chair hadn’t improved it so I didn’t
but I did try wheelchair racing which is
what you can see here and you’ve
probably seen this on like the
Paralympics going around a track or the
marathon London Marathon you see these
guys and they’re amazing and I thought I
had a pretty strong upper body from my
ride and I thought this is where I’m
gonna find I’m gonna find my moment this
is my one and only day racing
wheelchairs just simply because this is
a hundred meter race this photos sort of
annoys me actually it’s 100 meter racing
I’m the person there with the the black
helmet a little red line on it blue
t-shirt I’m lined up ready the girl just
to this side with the pink purple helmet
and pink purple matching wheelchair
right she beat me she’s 12 years old
now all right wait wait wait right she
beat me by 60 meters yeah so kayaking
right is a really cool war
I love I I love this video
I went hunting around on the internet
trying to find something else after the
wheelchair racing disaster and I found
kayaking these boats are incredible they
are super long really really narrow and
and mega fast and I managed to get in
touch with the coach of the GB team and
he asked me to come over try out like
we’ll come and try out and we’ve got a
space on the GB team right for someone
wayne laughing wait right what for
someone with my disability category I’m
like this is it so I went along free our
drive very excited took my wife Lisa and
my son Alfie came see daddy get picked
for the team and I went kayaking for the
first time now when I got on this got on
this boat I had a moment of panic
because like I said they’re pretty
wobbly and I was slightly concerned and
I said to my wife Lisa it was just the
side of the Jay you know what I’m a bit
worried about this beau is pretty tricky
to balance and that I’m about to set
sail and the coach says to me he’s just
holding the front of the boat just by
the J and he says don’t worry just you
just kind of balance it with your core
and I’m like okay some really important
information has been lost in our email
communication because
I haven’t got a call right that’s what
the wheelchairs about right I don’t know
why I didn’t get it but he pushes me out
okay
and I’m strapped in with this big velcro
strap so you can’t fall out the boat I
float out a little bit and a bit of a
wobble and then it just goes blue the
other way and I’m literally sat in it
perfectly set right but but the bottom
of the rivers there like I’m upside down
like I sure didn’t have there or I was
just like oh my god I’m like looking at
mud and fishes and right ok and I’m
trying to rip this velcro thing off of
my waist to get out of the boat and I
managed to get out enough to get a
breath of air just long enough to see my
son Alfie looking at me like dad’s
drowning like that looks bad I go back
under I haven’t come away from the boat
for some reason because my feet have got
kind of caught up in the boat and I sort
of struggle my way out it’s really
there’s a lot of splashing and a lot of
I’m not making the waves in this sport
like I planned and I’m yeah I miss a
mess I I get to the edge and I am one
I’m freezing and – I feel pretty stupid
I get lifted out the water and I’m just
kind of annoyed because I’m like I mean
I’m used to succeeding in sport that’s
that’s what I’ve always strived to do
and this was not that I get put back in
the boat again I might put me back in
that boat because I can do this they put
me back in flow out you probably guessed
it was a horror show I come back out the
war again I’m even cold I’m embarrassed
to admit now that it took me four more
attempts right to realize right I don’t
kayak I like no I’m not a kayaker okay
and I come out of that water and I just
felt so humiliated I I’d gone I just a
three-hour drive to get to this place
with a lot of ambition in my mind and
that excitement and this was not what I
was after
so we had a very quiet drive home but
halfway back my son’s died laughing in
the back of the car laughing at and he
was like well did you see that cafe just
next to the jetty you know wherever was
and everyone’s inside having coffees
from the cold watching I was like yeah
yeah and he said well imagine how that
scene look to those people in that why
do they keep putting that poor guy back
in he clearly can’t do it terrible mean
people like I’m like don’t put me back
in the boat and like get back in the
boat awful you know what since my
accident I would never able to get bike
riding out of my mind
I was looking for where I would find use
for my skill set but I’d always presumed
bike riding would be there I I didn’t
really know how but I knew I’d want to
do it and the problem was no one was
doing it no one was riding two-wheeled
mountain bikes who were was paralyzed
and it just wasn’t happening so I got to
thinking how I could do it and I found
the answer watching the Sochi
Paralympics I don’t if you’ve ever seen
these six key races they’ve got like a a
single ski and then they’re in this kind
of bucket seats and they go absolutely
howling down snowy mountains with like
these crutches on either side with
little skis on the end and I was
watching that and I thought wow why
hasn’t anyone ever put one
those seats on a mountain bike like
that’s that’s what I need I need
something to really hold me securely on
the bike and then once I’m rolling we’re
golden it’ll be great and I started
asking some people in the industry you
know could I get this done and some of
them were like you know and we could do
that and in other people were like hang
on a minute like you need like to sort
be a pedal you know to keep momentum and
obviously you know stability and stuff
like that valid points and I thought
well no actually because all you need is
a hill and then gravity is like free
energy it’s so eco it’s just like let’s
go I’ll sure it’s worked they also said
think about stopping I was like yeah
we’ll get to that so right this is me
right a year and a half after my
accident out with my friends on the top
of a mountain and I can’t tell you how
amazing this fell to go riding with my
mates once I got rolling it was
incredible what was incredible
experience I had with my friends it was
just such a team effort and getting out
riding on the bikes I had that kind of
like cheek ache for days afterwards
because I’d smiled so hard it was an
amazing experience and I got back riding
and that video we put out on the
Internet right and it got it got
millions of views on like YouTube and
Facebook and Instagram and that stuff
and there was so much noise in fact my
phone I was getting so many
notifications my phone’s ding broke you
know when you’re getting over to you
guys ding ding it broke I broke my phone
so I’m thinking right millions of years
right that’s like what you reckon that’s
like top hundred I’d say I’d say I’ve I
think I’ve made it into the top hundred
paraplegics in my opinion
you know what’s important from my story
I think is that that moment in the MRI
scanner was really important for me
because who would have thought before
that moment you know like seeing me with
that injury that some of the best days
of me riding bikes were ahead of me you
know it wasn’t the end of the career was
just a change in it and I have traveled
the world since my accident I’ve ridden
in international events I rode iconic
places that that I would never have
dreamed of going before and had
experiences on my bike that have just
been incredible and I don’t think many
people would have said that was coming
you know so I think there’s an important
message there and I think it’s that
excitement and that energy that made
that possible because that’s passion you
know that’s that’s when you’re
passionate about saying and you want to
get done when you’re passionate about
things you want to do in your lives and
decisions you want to make it’s very
easy to put up barricades of excuses and
blockades of reasons why you can’t or
make obstacles out of disabilities but
when you’ve got that passion and you’ve
got that excitement and you let it come
through and you let it steer you you can
just create a path around all those
barriers and you can achieve great
things and that is what I wish for you
guys Thanks
[Applause]
[Music]
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