For several years now, eDiscovery and data privacy consultant Nigel Murray has been taking part in the Big Battlefield Bike Ride which raises money for Help for Heroes, a charity supporting those severely injured while serving in the armed forces. I usually write about it well in advance but have this year left it so late that Nigel is already in the saddle.
The Help for Heroes website is here and there are updates and videos here. As one who gets an ache in the legs on the 10 minute cycle into Oxford, I have always been full of admiration for Nigel for doing this year after year. He won’t mind my saying that his frame and lifestyle are not obviously suited to this level of physical activity, making it the more impressive that he does it.
As I write, he is on Day 4, 45 miles from Caen to Bayeux along the coast which includes Arromanches and other scenes of heavy fighting on D-Day.
[Map by Ride with GPS / Help for Heroes Challenges Team]
Nigel is constantly impressed, as all of us must be, by participants who take part in this gruelling event despite having suffered very severe injuries, including multiple amputations. I have the impression that Nigel himself is spurred on by the sight of these people, determined not to flag while they keep going.
One of them apparently came off his bike and was taken to hospital. The hospital, expecting gravel rash, cuts and bruises, was no doubt surprised to find that the casualty was missing two legs and an arm. As Nigel says, he did not have to wait long for attention.
Nigel has so far raised more than £4,000 for Help for Heroes. Can we get him to £5,000?
