Community / ‘Get yourself out there, because there is nothing stopping you’
Wheelchair campaigner completes his 1,000 mile challenge in Shetland
WHAT comes across immediately when meeting Bash Wright for the first time is his upbeat nature and outgoing personality.
And the double amputee has plenty of reasons to be positive and pleased with himself after completing a four-month challenge of travelling unaided across the UK from Land’s End to the north tip of Unst in a wheelchair.
Yet, having to come to rely on a wheelchair for his mobility must have been a tragedy for the Yorkshireman from Whitby, who, rather than despairing took life by its horns, accepted the facts, and said to himself: ‘let’s get on with it’.
The 62-year-old who is known as the Green Mile Man arrived in Shetland at the end of August for the last stage of his 1,000 mile challenge, making it all the way to the northern tip of Unst.
A double amputee, who lost both legs above his knees in 2019 when falling into a three-month coma as a result of years of alcohol misuse, he is now raising funds for Whizz-Kidz, the UK’s leading charity for young wheelchair users.
He is keen to encourage his many fellow wheelchair users to get out more often, have a positive mindset and “just go and do things”.
And while being overtaken by plenty of heavy traffic on his way north may not be everybody’s of getting out and being more active, Bash is clear that the UK has plenty to offer that can be enjoyed by wheelchair users.
“There is so much out there you could do,” he says. “I made loads of videos on my way up the country about all the canal and railway tracks, castles as well as Holy Island.
“Come on, switch off breakfast television; get yourselves out because there is nobody stopping you. That’s what I am promoting: to get disabled people doing a bit more than just sitting at home.”
One could say Bash is taking his motto to a new level which, to a non-wheelchair user, sounds extraordinary. Not only has he undertaken his mammoth journey without a support team following him; he is also not checking in every night in a hotel or guest house with the appropriate disabled facilities.
No, Bash is fully self-sufficient; he is wild-camping along the way, is able to pitch his tent from the wheelchair and strong enough to haul himself into the tent for the night.
He may treat himself with the luxury of a campsite or even B&B from time to time to recharge some of his equipment, for a shower and to clean his clothes.
“If someone gives me a challenge and says ‘I bet you can’t do that’, then I just go and do that – that’s the kind of mindset I have,” he says, and freely admits that all this is, of course, not for everyone.
“Most people thing end to end means Land’s End to John o’ Groats, but that’s only half the job. I have to go right to the top, and when the road runs out in Shetland I go back to Yorkshire.”
Bash Wright’s journey can be followed on his Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/GreenMileMan/
Donations to Whizz-Kidz can be made using this JustGiving page.
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