Marathon Man Nottingham Bi-Lateral Amputee 117 Miles Over Six Weeks On State Of The Art Blades

Main Category: Bones / Orthopaedics
Also Included In: Rehabilitation / Physical Therapy
Article Date: 02 May 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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The Limbless Association had two runners in this year's London Marathon, both of whom successfully completed the 26.2 mile course.

Andrew Palmer, a Prosthetic Engineer from Cardiff DSC and a Left Below Knee amputee and "Member" of the Limbless Association, finished in 3hrs 23 minutes, raising £2,132.50.

Moira Burrows, an Amputee Rehabilitation Assistant at Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton and a "Friend" of the Limbless Association, finished in 4hrs 21 minutes, raising £1,329.20.

We are obviously extremely proud and grateful to both Andrew and Moira for their fantastic efforts and I'm sure I speak for all of our members, friends and supporters when I thank them whole-heartedly for choosing the Limbless Association as their nominated charity and for raising an amazing, combined total of £3,461.70 for our future activities.

We hope they have both fully recovered and are able to look back on the experience with pleasure!

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the LA Members and Friends who added their support and sponsored one (or both) of our runners. Andrew and Moira have asked me to pass on their thanks and gratitude to anyone who made a donation and added kind words of encouragement to their JustGiving web pages. If you would like to see their pages and view the messages of support, or if you would still like to make a donation, please visit http://www.justgiving.com/andrewpalmer1 or http://www.justgiving.com/moiraburrows.

Finally, we would like to congratulate Richard Whitehead, a Bi-lateral amputee who completed four-and-a-half marathons over a six-week period, culminating in a 3hr 22min time at the Flora London Marathon.

Having just completed a remarkable four and a half marathons over a six-week period running in three continents, Nottinghamshire's Richard Whitehead remains remarkably fresh and philosophical. "The people I have met and the opportunities I have had, I feel very humble to be given this chance to make a difference. I now know this is exactly what I want to continue with", says Richard. The incredible bi-lateral amputee confirmed his extraordinary talent achieving marathon on marathon personal best's of 3hrs 54m (Kilimanjaro), 3hrs 39m (Rome), 3hrs 36m (Georgia) and finally 3hrs 22m (London). He raised an amazing £ 1,369.93 for his long term charity partner Macmillan Cancer Support, chosen after losing a close friend in 2005.

A full-time Disability Sports Performance Pathways Coach for Nottinghamshire County Council, Richard receives sponsorship support from innovative prosthetics manufacturer, Ossur. "Ossur's technology enables me to reach new heights in fitness and performance. The special-designed 'Flex-Run®' prosthetic limbs help me to run more naturally and use my fitness to best effect. I could not even dream about a global four-race programme like this without them."

Race organisers describe Richard's efforts as truly inspiring, but it is Richard who feels inspired the most. "Running with 80,000 other runners and watched by thousands more cheering supporters is an immense privilege. All these races over the last month for different reasons have changed how I feel about running and my responsibilities as a role model to amputees and runners across the globe!

Inspired? Read more about Richard's exciting experiences on his blog!

The Limbless Association