A rider who broke her neck in a fall 40 years ago said it was an emotional and very special moment when she completed a 2,795-mile journey in a wheelchair.
Sharon Mynard raised almost £6,000 for Brain Tumour Research with her “pushathon”, which was a virtual journey around the coast of Great Britain. Much of the pushing was at the stud and livery yard she runs near Aylesbury, but she finished in Bournemouth, Dorset, where she had started, on 26 July.
“It was actually quite tough because there’s a camber on the path, I assume to help water drain off when the waves brush up it,” she said. “This meant I had quite a lot of pain in my right shoulder and arm the day after, because that was the one having to work the hardest.
“But I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day, it was stunning pushing along the promenade. As we got closer to Bournemouth, the people in beach huts started clapping and created quite a momentum.”
Sharon was working for a dealer when she was paralysed in the fall, from a young horse, when she was 16.
“My neck is held together with what was described as a metal coat hook and they grafted some bone out of my hip to stabilise it, but I did a good job of severing my spinal cord, which is why I’ve got no feeling from my chest down and very little movement in my hands,” she said.
The inspiration for the pushathon came after the death of her friend, showman Rory Gilsenan, who died in 2020, 18 months after he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Her partner Tim Belfield has also had two brain tumours removed.
“I see too much of it,” said Sharon n 2021, before she started her challenge. “I have a friend whose little girl has just lost her dad to a brain tumour and it seems like everybody I speak to has been affected by the disease. It’s so under-funded compared to other cancers, too, which I didn’t realise and I don’t think other people do either.”
Sharon said she wished she had been able to raise more, but her efforts will fund important research.
“I felt very emotional to finish because there were times I didn’t know I would get that far,” she said. “At Christmas I was so far behind, because of illness, that I didn’t know I’d be able to catch up. The only way I could get back on target was to do more than an extra mile each day, which added more pressure throughout the winter. But I worked hard and we got there.”
Sharon’s fundraising page is still open
She added: “It was very special because I had all my family and friends there, and they’ve been with me, picking up the pieces and supporting me all along.
“I’m feeling a bit lost now. It’s amazing how much the challenge helped clear my head. Pushing’s become a bit of a habit so I’m going to continue it as a form of exercise.”
Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: “We congratulate Sharon on finishing what has been a very time-consuming and physically exerting 20-month challenge. We’re really grateful for her continued support and look forward to seeing what fundraising initiative she comes up with next.”
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