Skip to content

Paralysed adventurers plan to canoe Zambezi River

Kim d’Arcy The three paddlers sitting in their wheelchairs on the shore while linking armsKim d’Arcy
Shaun Gash (right) came up with the idea, and will be joined by Liam Morris and Michelle Moffatt

Three wheelchair users are planning to raise £100,000 by canoeing 150 miles (240 km) along the Zambezi River in Africa.

The trip is the idea of Shaun Gash, from Morecambe, Lancashire, who is paralysed from the chest down, and as well as fundraising they hope to create a new world record.

Joining him in the challenge are Liam Morris from Askam in Furness, Cumbria and Michelle Moffatt from Dumbarton, who are both paralysed from the waist down.

Mr Gash, 53, who is raising funds for Spinal Research and Whizz Kidz, said supporting "two great charities" is "all about giving back".

They hope to cover the distance down Africa's fourth largest river in six days when they take part in the challenge in October.

'Given a new life'

Mr Gash, a dad of three, became paralysed aged 20 in a car accident, and has since completed a series of challenges including skydiving and reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro.

He said: "While my old life ended that night in 1991, I was given a new life and I want to make the most of it.

"I don't want to look back and think 'I wish I'd done that', I want to look back and think 'I did that'."

Kim d’Arcy The three canoeists sitting in their boats at the shoreline during a training sessionKim d’Arcy
Liam Morris, from Cumbria, secured a place in Team GB's development squad for adaptive rowing

Mr Morris, 34, was paralysed from the waist down in a motocross accident 11 years ago.

Despite his disability, he has pursued a range of sports and made it into the Team GB development squad for adaptive rowing.

He said: "There really is nothing I can’t do, I just have to adapt and adjust things to find a way, which is why when I heard about Shaun’s plan to canoe down the Zambezi I wanted to be part of it."

Ms Moffatt, 42, a former critical care nurse, said her life changed in an instant when she bent down to pick up a pen on a hospital nightshift in 2019.

A prolapsed disc had gone into her spinal cord, and post-surgery complications left her paralysed from the waist down.

She said of the trip: "I’m under no illusions it’s going to be hard but I’m so excited about doing something I would never have dreamed of doing as an abled-bodied person."

The three paddlers will be accompanied by family members, guides, and a support crew.

Follow BBC Cumbria on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].

More stories from BBC North East and Cumbria