Quadriplegic cerebral palsy sufferer to try 100km challenge

Jordon Conlan, 22, from Uckfield, has suffered from quadriplegic cerebral palsy since birth, but that will not stop him completing a one hundred kilometre challenge. Jordon will be cycling, assisted walking, and swimming the distance even though he cannot move his legs.

With the help of a stationary bicycle Jordon will complete most of this challenge over four days. The challenge will be split up so Jordon will only have to do 25 kilometres a day.

The distance of one hundred kilometres was decided as part of Sir Captain Tom Moore’s one hundred challenge, in which people must repeat a task one hundred times.

Jordon with his carer Alison Hall.

As Jordon is non-verbal his father Sean Conlan, 52, spoke to the Argus ahead of the challenge which will take place between April 30 and May 3. Sean will be encouraging Jordon and beside him for the entirety of the journey.

Sean said: “The Captain Tom 100 challenge came up and when we asked Jordon if he wanted to do it, he was quite smiley and excited about the prospect. We are hoping we will be able to do four days of 25 kilometres per day.

"Jordon will do all the cycling himself if he doesn’t the automatic peddling machine will not be fast enough for him as he manages around 60 revolutions per minute. Then we can calculate how far he has gone.

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"In the pool, we get in with him and put him in a range of different positions where he is having to do some physical part of the swimming. For the walking Jordon is in his standing frame, where he has to stand up straight and we help him around.

"But the main part of the challenge will be the cycling where he must do the majority of the work. So, we want to do it mainly on the bike and with the others as supports. It will push him to his limits, but we feel it is within his capabilities.

"Jordon enjoys cycling so much that when we put him on the bike, we are the ones that have to stop him, because he won’t stop himself until he is too tired.”

"Cycling has helped Jordon in his life in many ways. The activity gives Jordon a lot of joy so much so he will refuse to stop, but it also benefits him physically.

Sean said: “Now he can get on the bike and cycle 25 kilometres no problem. It has really helped him build his muscles and his chest. He now has legs like Sir Chris Hoy.”

“You tell him that we are getting ready to go and he gets very excited to get on the bike and he will barely have his feet in the pedals before he is trying to go. If you asked him about the challenge he would say, when are we starting or let’s get going.”

Jordon on his bike.

For perspective, Jordon’s challenge of riding one hundred kilometres is a longer journey then people who complete the London to Brighton bike ride which is only 95 kilometres.

Jordon will be raising money for Cancer Research UK and has already beaten his target of raising £500. The charity was chosen because it is an illness that has affected most people in one way or another. You can find Jordon's JustGiving page here https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/100challengecaptainsiretommooore

Sean added: “We wanted to find something that would work, and we all have connections to cancer, we have all lost friends and family to cancer, so we felt like it was the right charity to choose as it connects all of us in some way.”