Mist, gale force winds and rain didn’t stop a Cheshire Paratriathlete from tackling Yr Wyddfa to raise money for a spinal cord injury charity.
Lizzie Tench was a keen runner, swimmer and cyclist until she was hit by an overtaking car towing a trailer while she was out cycling with her partner in 2012.
She was airlifted from the scene having sustained many injuries, including a spinal cord injury caused by breaking two vertebrae in her spine, leaving her permanently paralysed from the waist down.
In the ssummer she joined forces with Team Aptitude – a team of three personal trainers and six gym members from Aptitude Health & Fitness in Farndon, as well as a group of Lizzie’s friends – to scale Yr Wyddfa (formerly known as Snowdon) in a specially adapted purple wheelchair.
The Push Yr Wydffa 2023 event attracted twelve teams from across the UK, all raising funds for the charity, which has been at the forefront of helping people and their families adjust positively to spinal cord injury for over 35 years.
Lizzie, who was pushed, pulled and carried up the mountain in three hours and 47 minutes, said: “I’ve been paralysed now for 11 years and before my accident I used to love walking in the mountains. I wanted to do this challenge so I could get back into the mountains again and up Yr Wyddfa seemed the perfect way to do it.
“It was an epic day. The team were incredible and we all worked together amazingly well, even though many of us were meeting each other for the first time.
“We weren’t allowed to summit unfortunately due to the gale force winds near the top of the mountain, but we climbed up 770 metres.
“Our team came fifth out of 12 and we raised well over £4,200 for Back Up. We even managed to run the last part and had a sprint finish.
“We all had loads of fun and we were smiling the whole way. I think there were a lot of aching bodies the following day!
“The event as a whole has raised an outstanding £83,000 so far and counting. Raising money for Back Up is something that is so close to my heart. When I was newly injured, they absolutely changed my life. I went from thinking of all the things I could no longer do, to all the things that were possible.”
Aptitude Health & Fitness founder Gareth Preston, who was joined by fellow trainers Skye Tyler Smith and Josh Heath, as well as a number of gym members, said: “Lizzie is such as inspiration and we wanted to help her to achieve this brutal and exhilarating challenge.
“The weather was awful on the day but we battled on and were delighted to smash our fundraising target.”
All the money raised from the charity event will go to Back Up to support spinal research.
About Lizzie
- After her injury, Lizzie was introduced to the spinal injuries’ charity Back Up and went on one of their multi-activity courses four months after leaving hospital, where she discovered a love of handcycling.
- This led to her pursuing her goal of taking part in parasport, and she competed for Great Britain in a paratriathlon two years later.
- Lizzie was four times British Champion (2015-2018), European Champion (2016) and won Bronze and Silver medals at World Championships in 2015 and 2016.
- She was ranked No. 1 in the World in 2016 and competed at the Commonwealth Games in 2018. Lizzie also competed at the World Championships in paracanoeing in 2015 and 2016.
