Ex-mayor reaches end of 500-mile wheelchair trek

Former Truro mayor Steven Webb said he was ready to "rest and warm up" after crossing the finish line of a 500-mile (805km) journey around Cornwall in an electric wheelchair.

Mr Webb has been raising funds for the Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust.

Completing the Cornwall 500 Challenge took 29 days, covering up to 30 miles (48km) a day.

Mr Webb was paralysed after a diving accident when he was 18 - and he credits Cornwall Air Ambulance with saving his life after the incident 33 years ago.

Mr Webb said he would not have become "a grandad, a dad or the Mayor of Truro" without the efforts of Cornwall Air Ambulance, and those who donate to their cause.

Mr Webb, whose charity fund has already reached nearly £7,000, told the BBC the most challenging part of the challenge had been the weather.

"I don't sweat or shiver, cannot control my body temperature, cannot move my legs or anything so I cannot generate the heat.

"It's been really really tough."

Recounting a donation from a young boy who ran after him to give him £1 during the challenge, he added: "It means so much and without people donating the staff, the pilots wouldn't be there so it's the people that donate that make all the difference."

Mr Webb said he had "not quite completed the challenge" and would have to return to some sections to achieve the 500-mile target, as the "weather, an issue with his chair or his creaking body" caused blips.

"I'm so proud of the whole team...It wasn't just me, it takes a lot for me to get out on the road and I do it with the whole team behind me.

"Now I'm going to go home and rest and warm up."

Mr Webb was elected mayor of Truro in 2021.

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