News
November 1, 2017
Andy Corles headed off on Saturday morning to start a challenge he had set himself sitting a hospital bed three years ago.
It was one of the first things he did on waking up out of a coma in hospital after being admitted when his car aquaplaned and rolled, a kilometre from his home in Te Rerenga, on wet roads in 2014.
Much to his own surprise, as he had never had an interest in cycling, Corles committed himself to the goal of competing in the Flight Centre K2 cycle race on the Coromandel Peninsula.
The accident left him classified as a c5 tetraplegic, with no feeling from the nipple line down, but he has limited use of one arm.
He said it had been a huge effort, and hours of training on his hand-operated cycle, to make it to the start line of the Nicholas Browne leg of the K2.
"After four hours, 27 minutes and 28 seconds of cycling the quarter-K I am still committed to my goal of cycling the K2, first of all though I will take on the K1 next year and then look at the big one," he said.
"It was really tough going up the hills and I had to break a few times coming down in the wet weather, so that I didn't crash."
This year he was among more than 1000 competitors who took part in the Flight Centre K2, which included options for a 192km ride around the Coromandel Peninsula, the Cervelo K1 which covered half that distance, and the 50km Nicholas Browne Challenge.
He still faced a big hill climb north of Tairua but was supported by wife Shelley, friends Michelle and Karl Fisher, who rode with him, and Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter intensive care paramedic Chris Deacon who attended to him at the scene of his accident.
Deacon said you don't want to underestimate the size of the task he was doing, to cycle with his arms when he hasn't got full use of one of them.
"I think Andy is an incredible inspiration. He likens each rotation of the pedals to a push-up. Try and do five hours of push-ups," he said.
He added as much as it was about Andy, it was about his support around him.
"You can't be an island, and he has his wife Shelley and his mother-in-law Margaret all the way. It goes to show that it's important to marry the right woman."
The Nicholas Brown Challenge is a favourite for families giving the event a go for the first time, or for those wanting to build up to the longer courses.
It is named after Nicholas Browne who died on December 1, 2007 from a complication with the kidney dialysis that he was receiving, just days after he completed the K2.
His wife Barbarella McCarthy, who completes the Nicholas Browne Challenge herself in alternate years with the Flight Centre K2, said Nicholas was a great supporter of going out and never using your illness or your disability as an excuse.
"He would be thrilled to see the kids here and Andy. That's what the quarter K ride is about. Getting friends and family groups like young Olivia McDonald, riding with her brothers, they are all stepping outside their comfort zones but they're cruising and it's giving them a safe ride."
Winner of the Nicholas Browne Challenge Harry Lockhead completed the course from Tairua to Whitianga in 1hr 16 minutes.
