A Royal Anglian Private, injured by the IRA, drives across 42 counties in 24 hours

"If the able bodied can do it, so can I".

These are the words of Steve Gill, 43, who took part in an all amputee yacht crew that sailed the Atlantic with military charity Blesma, The Limbless Veterans. The Crew of 13 only had 13 legs between them and yet they survived all that the Atlantic could throw at them. Steve couldn't even swim.

Always up for a challenge, local dad of nine, who lost both his legs and an eye to an IRA bomb at the age of 19 in Belfast, was on Motors TV last week talking about his charity Baron Motorsports and his latest achievement.

Blesma Member Steve joined a group of 10, eight of whom were amputees, to drive through all 42 traditional English Shire Counties in 24 hours.

Setting off from Tamar Bridge in Plymouth, the team drove up the west coast of England past Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester to Kendal just short of the Scottish border. They then turned south at Consett near Newcastle and came down the eastern side through Nottingham and East Anglia before coming round the M25 and finishing at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.

The approximately 1600 mile drive took 2 hours longer than expected and the crew were forced to improvise due to flooding along the route.

“I founded Baron Motorsports with Matt Kitson with a view to get disabled men and women into motorsports. After months of planning and sorting out logistics, the Baron Crew set out on this epic inaugural challenge in November last year and, I am delighted to say, succeeded!

As nobody has ever tried to do it before, we didn't know whether it was possible in the timeframe, or what problems we would face along the way. Though we overran ever so slightly, it was an incredible feat nevertheless!

The response to the piece on Motors TV has been exhilarating! Hopefully it will encourage many other injured veterans to venture into uncharted territory.”

 

Blesma, The Limbless Veterans is the national charity for all limbless service men and women, their widows and dependants. It was formed in the years following the First World War and became a national charity in 1932.  

-ENDS-

Notes to Editor

Hi-res images can be downloaded from the links below

The drivers (Steve Gill on the wheelchair in the middle)

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The drivers with their prosthetics /media/81372/111.jpg

 

About Blesma, The Limbless Veterans

Blesma, The Limbless Veterans is the national charity for all limbless serving and ex service men and women, their widows and dependants.  It is a membership organisation which helps wounded service men and women rebuild their lives by providing rehabilitation activities and welfare support. Their membership includes those who have lost the use of a limb, an eye or the sight of an eye.

Blesma was formed in the years following the First World War and became a national charity in 1932.  Blesma today has over 4000 Members and widows. The membership consists of men and women who have served during the Second World War and the many subsequent conflicts and peacekeeping operations since, including the Falklands, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan.

About Steve Gill

Steve Gill, 43, lost his right leg above knee, left leg below knee and right eye to an IRA bomb when he was blown up in Belfast in 1989. 

Only 19 at the time, Steve has actively cultivated his interest for the outdoors. A wheelchair basketball coach and a keen fitness fanatic, he lives in Cosby with his wife and five children. His eldest son, 23, now lives with his partner and children.

An archerer when not making the most of his Big Brother fame, he juggles his responsibilities as a Blesma Welfare Representative in the wider Leicestershire area. This involves accompanying his Blesma Support Officer Charley Streather to meet other injured service men and women, sharing his experiences and talking about how he turned his life around.

“Blesma have been with me for over 20 years and I owe them a huge amount. Having done several activities with them – cycling, fishing, sailing and mono-skiing, they have also helped me make an application for a new and improved hand bike. I certainly could not have come this far in my recovery without Blesma!

Baron Motorsports

Steve Gill founded Baron Motorsports with Mr Matt Kitson in 2011 with a view to get disabled men and women into motorsports and to enjoy spectating, participating or even start a new career.

Through Motorsports people will be able to:

• Develop Mechanic skills
• Learn to drive or ride again with adaptions
• Feel part of a team
• Gain a purpose and goal in their lives
• Help to develop new technology to support disabled access to driving and riding

 

Sponsors include Tesco Momentum⁹⁹, Norwich Car Hire, Specialist Vehicle Rentals and Tinker Taylor TV 

 

Below is a list of all the 10 participants –

• Blesma Member Royal Anglian Private Steve Gill, 43, from Cosby, lost his right leg above knee, left leg below knee and right eye to an IRA bomb when he was blown up in Belfast in 1989. 

• Blesma Member Royal Anglian Private Matthew Woolard, 25, from Colchester, lost his right leg below knee, suffered shrapnel injury to left leg and burns to both arms in Afghanistan in April 2007.

• Blesma Member Lance Corporal Mick Foulds, 61, from Bury St Edmunds, lost both his legs below the knee when hit by a train in April 2007.

• Blesma Member Paul Hagan, 52, from Leicester was in the Merchant Navy. He had to have both his leg amputated above knee in (one in 1998 and the other in 2011). Paul also suffers with loss of hearing, reflex sympathetic dystrophy and nerve disease in both hands and left stump.

• Blesma Member Corporal Jeff Winder, 50, from Preston, lost his left leg below knee in September 2011.

• Blesma Member Private Steve Beasley, 47, from Derbyshire, had his left leg above knee amputated in October 2005. He also suffered severe damage to the right leg.

• Blesma Member Lance Corporal Terry Hunt, 44, from Swansea, lost her left leg below the knee as a result of a left Achilles tendon problem with complication of infection in September 2004.  

• Blesma Member WO2 Steve Hunt, 45, from Swansea, suffers from complications including Lower Back Pain Syndrome and Neck Pain Syndrome.

• Police Officer Lee Jennery
• Steve Gill’s charity partner Matt Kitson

 

For more information visit www.baronmotorsports.org.uk

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