Inspirational - Martyn Ashton

Discussion in 'Disabled Martial Artists' started by Anth, Jul 5, 2015.

  1. Anth

    Anth Daft. Supporter

    Not martial arts related but I think any disabled (and probably able bodied) martial artists will find this story inspirational.

    Martyn Ashton was a trials biker. Famous for jumping things, backflipping off things, doing crazy stuff like [ame=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZmJtYaUTa0]this[/ame] (note: couple of swearies after he rides a wall of death...). Then he broke his back - two crushed vertebrae, detached the ligaments and damaged the spinal cord permanently.

    After a five month stay in hospital (and completing the video he was working on at the time), Martyn had to adapt to life at home and without his hobby and trade. Then came Try Before July, his aim to try as many different things as possible before July 2014. Some things, such as riding a motorbike again (with an electronic landing gear) and handbiking were successful while others (kyaking, for example) weren't. Others were just things that able bodied people find normal - getting a train or using an escalator.

    In October he posted Year One, his story of how the first year after his accident has affected him, what happened and his hopes. He finishes with this paragraph:

    To a lot of people, that could come across as being unable to move on and accept that you can't do something any more. "You're paralysed, you can't ride any more."

    Yeah, right.

    [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX_hn3Xf90g"]Martyn Ashton - Back On Track - YouTube[/ame]

    Watching that video, seeing Ashton smiling at being able to ride with his mates again and his line at the end - "it's good to be back" - brought a smile to my face and a tear to my eye (as one Youtube commenter put it, "God damn onion ninjas"). Less than two years after his accident and defying the logic of most people, he's back doing something he loves.

    If anyone needs any inspiration, look beyond the footballers and Olympians who put themselves through pain for gain and look to the parasports and the likes of Martyn Ashton, who are in pain all day, every day and yet push themselves to do what the world tells them they cant. They are the true inspirations.
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2015
  2. holyheadjch

    holyheadjch Valued Member

    Ashton was one of my heroes as a teen. What happened to him broke my heart.
     

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