Devon IPF Member Embarks On Africa Adventure
Devon disabled adventurer and RFU Injured Players Foundation (IPF) member Richard Harris will embark on a once in a life time expedition this month with his wife, Rachel, as they journey across Africa by Land Rover all the way back to Torquay, Devon.
It will be a marathon drive across Africa by the former Torquay Athletic Vice Chairman who was left partially paralysed after breaking his neck playing rugby for South Devon College in 1986. The adventure is in aid of raising money and awareness for Motivation, a charity which works with people with mobility disabilities in the developing world.
Richard, 44, kicks off his trip on May 12 from Zululand in South Africa. He will drive a mammoth 180,000 miles back home over approximately eight months. Richard, who gets about using a wheelchair and crutches, will be using a Land Rover Azalai, which is a camper conversion especially adapted for him.
The IPF have made a considerable contribution to the adaptations, which includes a bespoke tail-lift and converting the Defender to automatic transmission and hand-controls. The vehicle can accommodate two people for this type of journey and has a galley as well as a shower and toilet. The IPF also brokered some driver training for Richard and his wife with Land Rover Experience, which has equipped the couple with some of the most professional training in the world.
Harris praises IPF pastoral care
Richard said: "The IPF have a great pastoral care system, and take a genuine and real interest in the wellbeing and lives of all injured players. They positively encourage people to realise their full potential, perhaps without even realising it themselves. I just hope that we achieve our plans and don't let that ethos falter. We want to prove that with the right support, people with disabilities can get up to the same extraordinary things that everyone else can."
So why this challenge and why Africa? For Richard it is clearly about challenging himself and realising his dreams.
"Why?" he said. "Because of the challenge, the personal tests, the new experiences, learning more about each other, learning more about the world and its people.
"We first visited South Africa in 1997 on a 'once in a lifetime' rugby tour. It was in the beautiful Hluhluwe Imfolozi National Park that the possibility first registered with me. However, it really irked me that because of my physical limitations such a trip was not really feasible for us, and certainly not without making many compromises on my independence.
"This all changed in 2008 when browsing the internet we came across the Land Rover Azalai conversion, and OEC, the company importing and fitting the kit in the UK, were only nine miles up the road! This vehicle had a toilet and accessible accommodation, subject to a few not inconsiderable adaptations. The only excuse for us not to undertake the trip and fulfill our ambition could only be a lack of effort and will on our part."
Harris will be following the winter in the respective south and northern hemispheres to reduce the risk of heavy rains and the stifling desert heat.
He added: "It’s really is going to be quite an incredible year. We hope that we can meet all of the challenges that are posed along the way. Either way, the IPF is a world-leading example of how the game can support the few unlucky individuals disabled in rugby matches. We are proud to have the IPF logo on the Azalai."
You can keep in touch with Richard’s incredible journey on www.harris.gb.net
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