A Manchester Arena bombing survivor is to tackle Africa’s highest mountain later this year for charity.
Martin Hibbert, 44 from Bolton, was paralysed in the Manchester bomb explosion in 2017 that killed 22 people and injured hundreds more, including his teenage daughter. Now a wheelchair user, Mr Hibbard is going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain at 19,308 feet.
Mr Hibbert will do this while the Paralympics are playing out in Tokyo, beginning in late August this year, carrying a Paralympic torch from the 2012 London Games, to raise money for the Spinal Injuries Association (SIA), a charity that helped him rebuild his life after the terrorist attack.
Mr Hibbert said: “I’ve decided to turn an appalling act of terror into a force for the greater good. I want to do something to shift the spotlight away from those who tried to end my life towards those who helped me rebuild it.
“I want to raise £1m for the Spinal Injuries Association. Seven people are paralysed by spinal cord injury every day. but just one in three spinal cord injured people get the specialist care they need. Without SIA, I am not sure what we do”.
Since his recovery, Mr Hibbert has committed to working with the charity as a trustee to offer hope, confidence and practical skills to other people paralysed by spinal cord injury.
The climb comes at a time when the needs of spinal cord injured people are greater than ever. More than 50,000 people across the UK face a life of paralysis through damage to their spinal cord.
Before the pandemic, the NHS acknowledged that at the initial stages of injury there were at least 50 specialist beds missing at specialist centres. Research conducted by the SIA has found that during the pandemic an excess of 100 beds normally used by spinal cord injured people have been closed.
For the thousands who are missing out, it means receiving treatment for no more than their immediate medical needs, often delivered with little experience in spinal cord injury. The result is that paralysed people’s longterm needs, both mental and physical, are not fully met, resulting in a revolving door.
Spinal Injury Association is responding to as many of these cases as it can with its specialist nursing, support, and counselling services, while advocating for much greater priority to be given to the needs of those with spinal cord injuries.
Speaking about the massive climb ahead, Mr Hibbert said: “I’ll be crossing dense rainforest, boulder fields and snow to over 19,000ft and using a Bowhead hand bike to get me there. It’ll be the harder thing I’ve ever done but I want to support other injured and disabled people.
“To do all that in a Paralympic year, well that is just the icing on top of the cake. The money raised is my way not to just say thank you to the Spinal Injury Association for everything it has done for me but to make sure it can reach the thousands of who remain in urgent need.
“Without the charity, I wouldn’t be here today. I want to start a revolution to change people’s perceptions of what it means to be disabled. I want everyone to have the care and support they need, helping everyone to lead the life they want and being fully involved in the decisions that shape their experiences.”
Joining Mr Hibbert on the climb are Ollie Buncombe from SIA, Rob Grew who ran into the Manchester Arena after the explosion to offer help to the severely injured casualties, Stuart Wildman, the head nurse at the Major Trauma Centre who treated Mr Hibbert when he was admitted after his injury, Graeme Hackland, the chief information officer at Williams Racing, and Chriss Patton, a tissue and SCI nurse from Salisbury who will be supporting Mr Hibbert medically throughout his climb.
Nick Hartley OBE, the chief executive of SIA, said: “Martin is a football-loving family man whose life changed unexpectedly and forever one night in Manchester. With grit and determination, he has rebuilt his life and is now supporting other injured people.
“Too often disabled people are seen as second-class citizens, but Martin’s incredible climb is a powerful statement of why achieving one’s goals should not be defined by disability. He is aiming to fundamentally challenge people’s perceptions of what it means to be disabled.”
You can donate to Mr Hibberts Go Fund Me page here.
Shawna Healey
Featured image courtesy of Yoad Shejtman on Unsplash. Image license can be found here. No changes were made to this image.