A London cycling club has raised £20,000 for spinal injury research after one of their members was paralysed in a freak accident.
Islington Cycling Club (ICC) started a fundraising campaign last year for Spinal Research after popular James “Gino” Murphy was paralysed from the shoulders down on a weekend ride.
Gino was with two fellow ICC members when he came off his bike, hitting a kerb headfirst in an impact that seriously damaged his spinal cord. He was airlifted to the Royal London Hospital where he spent just over two months before being transferred to the London Spinal Cord Injury Centre in Stanmore.
Gino, 67, said: “I’m delighted that we have succeeded in meeting our target of raising £20,000 for vital research into curing paralysis. For those of us whose lives have been devastated by the abominable impacts of spinal cord injury this gives hope that there may be a way to claim back some autonomy and independence.”
Spinal Research is the leading UK charity funding and supporting the best research around the world to develop life-changing new treatments and therapies.
Suzanne Redding, Head of Audience & Communications, said: “What an achievement! We are so grateful to the Islington Cycling Club for their amazing efforts – every single pound takes us closer to our goal of curing paralysis.
“The first function restoring treatment for spinal cord injury is now available. Breakthrough therapies are nearing clinical reality and frontier technologies, from AI and robotics to gene therapies, are creating bold new pathways toward repair and recovery.
“But we urgently need funds to get the most promising of these from the labs to the people, like Gino, who need them. Which is why generous donations like this from TeamGino matters so much.”
ICC members took part in a series of sponsored activities including a 2,400km solo ride from London to Lisbon, the London-Edinburgh-London audax and a half-marathon.
They also raised money at ICC’s annual sportive “The Great Escape,” on club rides to Brighton and Cambridge and by putting on a comedy evening with “Cycling Man” Kathy Maniura.
The club had raised £18,000 and aimed to reach their target by offering a lovingly restored vintage 1979 Alan Super Record road bike in return for a £2,000 donation. Camden law firm Osbornes has now donated that sum and gifted the bike back so ICC can sell it to raise further funds for Spinal Research.
ICC member David Mason was riding with Gino when the accident happened and co-ordinated the fundraising campaign. He said: “I’m still shocked by how my friend’s life was transformed in an instant.
“Gino’s awful accident shows why every cyclist should care about research into repairing spinal injuries, and it’s been heartwarming to see how his friends and fellow club members have stepped up to raise so much money in his name.”
Every two hours someone in the UK is paralysed after a spinal cord injury – it can happen to anyone at any time with devastating consequences for them and their loved ones.
Father-of-two Gino from Hornsey added: “When most of your body doesn’t function any more it’s incredibly tough to suddenly become that dependent and that vulnerable. It’s been hard for me but also so hard for my wife and children. It has felt at times like our future has been taken away and we’re living with a bereavement for the life we were going to have.
“But one of the things I am learning to do is to enjoy each moment that life presents with the amazing support of family and ICC friends. They have helped me make sense of and start to come to terms with where I am now. I’ve been completely overwhelmed by their friendship.”
