‘Don’t be afraid to hope’: rider paralysed in fall joins bike marathon in memory of fellow eventer

“We can do this” is the message from a former eventer, who walked this summer, 22 years after she was paralysed in a riding fall.

Catriona Williams has flown from New Zealand to take part in Cycle4Caroline, a bike marathon in memory of fellow eventer Caroline March. She and others including Caroline’s brother and sister-in-law Tom and Piggy March, and British Eventing Support Trust patron Alastair Wilson, husband of 2021 European eventing champion Nicola, left Blair Castle in Scotland today (20 November) and will arrive at the Savoy Hotel in London in 10 days’ time. The 684-mile ride has so far raised over £58,000 for the British Eventing Support Trust and Spinal Research.

“We can do this,” Catriona told H&H. “Spinal cord injuries shouldn’t mean a lifetime in a chair. We can do more.”

Catriona competed at Badminton Horse Trials and was aiming to represent New Zealand at the 2004 Olympics until her fall in 2002. She set up the CatWalk Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Research Trust, which funds projects aiming to find a cure for spinal cord injuries.

Since she set up the trust, Catriona has completed the New York City Marathon and climbed to Everest base camp on a handcycle. She was a finalist in the 2014 KiwiBank New Zealander of the Year, inducted into the New Zealand Horse of the Year Show hall of fame, and recognised in the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours list as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

She said she saw a post about the Cycle4Caroline ride by chance.

“I’m not very good on social media but it popped up,” she said. “I’d just got my bike, which I’d been working on for two years, and been for a ride. [My husband] Sam and I have a bit of a thing about either no or ‘Hell, yeah!’ and I said ‘I need to do this’.”

Catriona emailed Piggy but then found the Cycle4Caroline website and realised the ride was in memory of Caroline, who died aged 31 in March, nearly two years after she suffered spinal injuries in a cross-country fall.

“I realised this wasn’t just riders going for a cycle, it was a really big deal and maybe I was gate-crashing,” she said. “I sent another email apologising but within minutes, got a beautiful email back saying ‘We’d love you to come’. I feel very lucky to be among these courageous, brave, inspiring people.”

Follow the riders’ progress on Facebook

Catriona said it is 22 years, almost to the day, since her fall.

“Everyone remembers the day it happens,” she said. “When I read Caroline’s post, it really hit a spot. I have a friend who was really upset by it and I said no one can judge. Only someone in her shoes knows what she was going through and right or wrong, agree or disagree, we have to do more, as an industry. Everyone who’s capable of supporting or donating; we have to do more.

“We have to back the research because change is coming but it needs money and if we put our hands up, we can make things happen.”

Catriona said she “stepped sideways” from the trust she founded as she wanted to push herself and her body to see what she could achieve.

Donate to Cycle4Caroline online

“I’ve got my legs moving, I can stand in a frame,” she said. “I walked into our dinner this year.

“I’m 53 and the message is, this is what I’m doing, 22 years post injury. If we back the research and add it to what’s being done, whether it’s stem cells or electrodes – I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t believe it was possible. It’s so exciting when you speak to people at Spinal Research UK; this will happen, but it won’t happen without support.”

Catriona joked that “as a disabled person, able-bodied people don’t move fast enough” but stressed that every pound raised will help the “best and brightest minds” conduct the research needed to find a way for people with spinal cord injuries to recover.

“I feel it’s something the equestrian industry can really get behind,” she said. “Unless you’re really close to it, you tend to just go ‘yeah, yeah’ and carry on, which is of course natural, but if you’re the person in the chair or their family, this is really exciting.

“We need to get people not afraid to back this, and not afraid to hope. We put a man on the moon; we can do this.”

Supporters are invited to join the cyclists through Badminton Park and on the last leg from Windsor Castle to London; more information is online.

• To stay up to date with all the breaking news throughout major shows such as London International and more, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

You may also be interested in: