GR!Z
Hello. My name is John Grisley but I am known to everyone as GR!Z.
In 2010 I hurt my back, well that’s not exactly true, I severely damaged my back. I damaged my back when trying to catch a heavy server (big computer) from falling onto the ground. I instantly knew I had done some serious damage and it turns out that my back will never be the same again.
To add to this I also have Spinal Arthritis which took advantage of my immobilised state and took hold in my lower Lumbar. When I realised that my back was never going to be pain free, I was extremely dissappointed. There were so many things I wanted to do and now would never realise. Doctors were telling me that I had to stretch and exercise my back to retain my current mobility, but over time there will be a continued degradation in my Lumbar movement as the Arthritis took over. Gradually over the weeks and months the pain in my lower back and the amount of pain killers I was taking to cope with this pain decreased and then hit a plateaux.
Prior to my accident I was planning to paddle down the Thames as an adventure, but with my back damaged this seemed a long way away. My motivation to get fitter slowly declined as work and home life steadied and as my back and pain became more stable. I realised that I needed something to aim for and so the idea of walking the Thames Path arose. I talked about achieving the walk and how that would help my fitness, and hopefully, I could then paddle down the Thames as I had originally planned. Again work and school holidays took over and my “training” slowly disapated, and as such my motivation declined.
My motivation took a turn for the better when I next saw a brave young boy called Blue. Blue is the son of close family friends and has Cerebal Palsy which has severely effected his legs. Blue has battled with motibility issues all of his life, and I can now relate to the frustration and pain he has been going through, and seeing Blue after some recent operations that he has had to straighten his legs and build the muscels and ligaments required to support his weight, was a humbling experience. He has inspired me to “Just Do It” in true Nike style. So forget training, forget preperation, just get on with it.
I now have my motivation and I also want to give something back by raising money to help people like myself but more importantly brave people like Blue. I have started with two challenges which involve the river Thames.
- Walking up the River Thames – Planned to Start 17th September 2011
- Paddling down the River Thames – Planned for Summer 2012