Training weekend in Snowdonia for forces amputees
24 November 2011
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BU academic accompanies amputees on training weekend in Snowdonia |
It's not the easiest of tasks clambering across sharp peaks, leaping over powerful streams and hauling yourself up 3,560 feet of slippery Welsh rock, especially when the climber is a lower-limb amputee.
The Pilgrim Bandits, a charity who support injured servicemen, amputees and veterans, organised a trek up Snowdon last weekend as a training expedition.
The real challenge will come in February 2012, when the Pilgrim Bandits take on Africa's highest summit, Mount Kilimanjaro. This expedition will be made up of five forces amputees, including Johno Lee (pictured), who was injured by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Afghanistan; soldiers from 7 Rifles and fundraisers for the charity. Dragon's Den star Duncan Bannatyne will also be joining them.
John Sandford-Hart, another forces amputee, and patron of the Pilgrim Bandits said of the training trip:
"The Snowdon weekend was a fantastic opportunity for the Kilimanjaro group to meet and bond. It was also a great test for all of us and it brought out the determination and team play that will be needed to succeed in Africa."
If completed the climb will break the record for the largest group of amputees to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro.
Bournemouth University's Senior Lecturer in Product Design Bryce Dyer accompanied the Pilgrim Bandits to north Wales.
"Whilst I feel our academic research into prosthesis for sport is important, obtaining practical observation in the field is essential. No products are used in a clinical setting. They are used out there. Seeing guys use them in extreme environments - be it the Paralympics or heading up Snowdon is a great way to help shape new ideas and solutions."
Bryce is on the International Paralympic Committee as a member of their sports technology and equipment working group and has a research passion for developing "smart" technology to assist and inform in the fitting of lower limb prostheses to achieve sustainable comfort - something that will be vital when climbing Kilimanjaro.
Bryce is also currently looking into whether paralympic athletes have an unfair advantage over fully limbed athletes, using double amputee Oscar Pistorius, often nicknamed "blade runner" as a case study. The two shared the stage at the National Conference on Sports Prosthesis in Glasgow on 11 November 2011.
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