In 2013, stunt cyclist Martyn Ashton, a former world champion mountain biker, crashed during a cycling event and was left paralyzed from the waist down. Recently, with the help of some cylcing friends and a few companies who provided the equipment, he got back on a bike and cycled down the Antur Stiniog trail in North Wales, UK. This short film shows just how thrilling it was for Ashton to be back on the trail again.
"When you have an accident," Ashton told the UK’s Telegraph "the doctors try to get you to accept the situation – that you’ll never walk again. I’ve accepted that. But I never had those thoughts about cycling. I never accepted that. I just kept wondering how I could cycle again".
Ashton’s plans for the future include working with Wings for Life, a spinal-cord research foundation, his inspirational #TryBeforeJuly blog, and ultimately to use his own life experience to help other disabled people experience the joy and freedom of cycling.
And today we celebrate...