Devizes dad will push himself to the limit (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Devizes dad will push himself to the limit

7:00am Friday 30th October 2009

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Paralysed former toy shop owner Andrew Farrow is taking part in a cross country run in his wheelchair to raise money for the hospital that saved his life.

Father-of-two Mr Farrow, 44, who lives off Pans Lane, Devizes, was left paralysed from the chest down after he fell from a tree in his sister’s garden near Salisbury in July 2006.

He spent 14 months in the spinal unit at Salisbury District Hospital. His injuries meant he could no longer run his shop, The Toy Tree in Old Swan Yard, Devizes, which he ran for nearly three years and he sold it a few months after his accident.

Mr Farrow became a governor of Salisbury District Hospital earlier this year and wants to raise as much money as he can for the hospital’s Stars Appeal, which buys various equipment.

Mr Farrow said: “It’s an amazing hospital. It’s a privilege to be a governor there and I was lucky to be a patient there. The care I got was exceptional.

“The hospital saved my life several times. While I was in the spinal unit I suffered a variety of illnesses, including a pressure ulcer, which meant I was in longer than I would probably have been.

“The staff showed me that life in a wheelchair can be just as rich as the life I had before. They gave me and others so much to help us through the massive life change that follows spinal cord injury.”

Mr Farrow, who is married with two children, Griffin, 12, and Arden, ten, said he had much to be grateful for.

He said: “I have my arms. If you spend 14 months in hospital you get to see people much worse off than you are, where their arms and hands don’t function.

“After I had my accident it was hard. Initially I used to think about all the things that I used to do and couldn’t do any more. But now I’m generally pretty upbeat about being paralysed. I think about what I can do. I can do most stuff, I can drive, cycle, swim and be an active father and partner.”

Mr Farrow will be taking part in the 3km Tidworth cross country run on Sunday and will be using a conventional wheelchair rather than a cycle-chair.

He said: “It would be too easy to do the event in my cycle chair. A couple of other hospital governors are doing the race and they said they will push me up hills if I can’t manage it.

“This will be my first wheel/run and I’ll be the first wheelchair user to attempt it. The aim is to finish it.”

To sponsor Mr Farrow go online to www.justgiving.com/andrew-farrow

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