Liverpool may be the home of the Beatles, but it is Grant Crawley, patient at the Fazakerley based Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery, who’s asking for Help! this summer to support his efforts on behalf of UK charity, Action Medical Research. Grant, despite suffering from a rare illness called Multifocal Motor Neuropathy with Conduction Block, is supporting the charity by cycling its Silver Jubilee Action 100 Bike Ride from Bristol to London, and wants others to support him, or qualify for their own ‘tickets to ride’ by undertaking the challenge themselves.

The Walton Centre is the UK’s only specialist centre treating injury, illness, disability or pain associated with the nervous system. Grant’s condition, which disables the transmission of messages from his brain to his limbs, requires regular chemotherapy. Grant, 35, hopes that the work of Action Medical Research might one day help to find a cure for his debilitating condition and others like it, and is keen to support the charity in their drive to recruit more riders and supporters.

Merseyside is a key region for the charity: thanks to substantial grants from Action Medical Research, a number of key medical research projects have been undertaken, including a recent study by the University of Liverpool and the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital investigating bronchiolitis in children.

Intrepid Grant is passionate about the charity’s work, and has incredibly already completed a number of their mammoth fundraising challenges, including the London to Paris cycle last summer. “I am fortunate that I can still ride a bicycle because the condition has not yet damaged my leg muscles,” says an upbeat Grant. “It’s really a case of now or possibly never.”

The 100 mile Action 100 Bike Ride, which covers the distance from Bristol/Bath to London, is celebrating its Silver Jubilee this summer, and Action Medical Research is hoping this year can be its best yet. The ride is taking place on Sunday 27th August, Bank Holiday weekend, and applications are now open.

To sign up, please apply online at www.action100.org.uk or contact Roy Clarke, Registration Officer on (0117) 973 6993.
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