INTERVIEW: Lancaster wheelchair adventurer to canoe Zambezi river

Monday, 11 September 2023 11:57

By Greg Lambert @greglam72

Shaun Gash (right) with Beyond Radio's Luke Stutchbury

An inspirational Lancaster adventurer aims to become the first paralysed amputee to canoe 175km of the Zambezi river in Africa.

Shaun Gash will tackle the lower Zambezi next year, having raised more than a quarter of a million pounds for charity by taking on various challenges in his wheelchair.

Shaun has used a wheelchair for 32 years, ever since he was paralysed from his chest down following a car accident when he was 20.

Six years ago, he also lost his leg while climbing Ben Nevis mountain in Scotland.

But Shaun has not allowed his disabilities to stop him from taking on the toughest challenges.

These have included sky diving and scuba diving, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and travelling in his chair from Land's End to John O'Groats.

LISTEN to Shaun Gash speaking to Luke Stutchbury and Alistair Fisher on Beyond Radio

"I was involved in a car accident which left me completely paralysed from my chest down," said Shaun, reflecting on how he sustained his injuries.

"I broke my back, punctured both my lungs. They gave me two days to live.

"I went through a dark stage of accepting what had actually happened. I was only 20.

"But then my mindset changed, I accepted who I was, and I decided my challenge is to push myself and take my wheelchair where no wheelchair has been before.

"I try to give myself a goal every year, push myself and push the boundaries and say, this is me, I'm in a wheelchair, but look what I've achieved."

Shaun will be joined by his wife Dawn and a small team in canoeing the Zambezi over five days in October 2024.

They will raise money for Whizz Kids, the UK's leading charity for young wheelchair users, Spinal Research, and for the Mtendere Mission Hospital in Zambia which needs wheelchairs.

Shaun is friends with world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury, and the fighter's dad John, who will be his ambassador for the canoe challenge.

"He's a good man, get behind him, he's doing amazing things," said John Fury, while launching the charity challenge.

"He's a wonderful fella, a gift from God."

Shaun's fundraising page can be found here.