Intrepid tale for charity

TRIUMPH: Pictured at Everest base camp during a 1000km hand-cycling journey are Catriona Williams (centre), Wairarapa founder and trustee of the CatWalk Spinal Cord Injury Trust, and fellow tetraplegics Neil Cudby and Rob Creagh. PHOTO/FILE

Catriona Williams is to recount for charity her 1000-kilometre hand-cycling adventure to the roof of the world earlier this year.

The founder and trustee of The CatWalk Spinal Cord Injury Trust is to recount her journey from Lhasa in Tibet to Kathmandu in Nepal in early June this year at a combined Rotary Clubs of Wairarapa fundraising dinner at Copthorne Hotel and Resort Solway Park on October 18.

Mrs Williams travelled the distance in 28 days alongside two fellow tetraplegics - Robert Creagh from Auckland and Neil Cudby from Papamoa - and 12 able-bodied cyclists.

The ad hoc squad of intrepid travellers also made a stopover at Everest Base Camp during the trip, which was "an extraordinary adventure and life-changing experience for those involved", she said.

The journey, which raised $600,000 for the CatWalk trust, the Spinal Cord Injury Trust of Australia, took the team to the summit of 10 peaks, five of which were over 5000m.

Mrs Williams was a talented equestrian who represented New Zealand in the early 1990s, but a horse-riding accident in 2002 left her a tetraplegic.

She had since poured her determination into the CatWalk trust, which has raised more than $3 million to help with research into new treatments.

In 2010, Ms Williams received a Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award for her exceptional contribution to New Zealand and for inspiring countless others with her courage in the face of adversity.

Tickets cost $50 apiece for the fundraising dinner at Copthorne on October 18 and include a two-course buffet meal. Corporate tables for 10 people also are available at $400 and all proceeds will go the the Catwalk trust.

Tickets are available from Rotary clubs or by emailing akirkhamobe@hotmail.com