Horatio's Garden cycle challenge for spinal injury woman

A keen cyclist left partially paralysed has endured a gruelling 150 mile challenge for a garden at a new rehabilitation centre.

Amanda Harris, 46, was left paralysed from the chest down after a cycling accident six years ago.

But with rehabilitation she regained some movement and decided to dedicate a static bike challenge to raising money for the Horatio's Garden project.

It will provide a tranquil space for patients at Llandough, near Cardiff.

The new Welsh Spinal Cord Rehabilitation Centre at the Vale of Glamorgan hospital will replace facilities at Cardiff's Rookwood Hospital when it opens next year.

A former Rookwood patient herself, Ms Harris said being able to go into the grounds helped ease the trauma of a six-month stay on its wards.

"When you have an injury such as this, it is a grieving process, as you're grieving for the life that you had and the life you have going forward," said Ms Harries, who lives in Rhondda Cynon Taff.

"I use to go into the grounds of Rookwood quite often and sit in my wheelchair and think about things, often cry or meet family members for difficult conversations."

The cycling community helped support Amanda Harris through her rehab - including the Wickets and Wheels team, with former Wales rugby captain Sam Warburton

Horatio's Garden is a charity dedicated to creating open spaces for patients at NHS spinal injury units across the UK.

It was named in honour of 17-year-old Horatio Chapple, who was killed when his camp on a school trip to Svalbard in the Arctic Ocean was attacked by a polar bear.

"The moment that really helped during my six months in hospital was being wheeled in my hospital bed to the open door of the ward and feeling the sunshine on my face, watching the bumblebees and seeing flowers and hedgerows blossoming in the summer sun," said Ms Harris.

"Just for a moment my worries were gone."

• Back at work after being paralysed

• Spinal implants helping patients walk

Ms Harris, an online advice manager for a housing charity, has been using a modified recumbent tricycle mounted on rollers to notch up the miles from home.

"It is difficult and tiring because with a spinal injury there are a number of complications - not just mobility but also fatigue and spasms," she said.

"But raising this money is critically important because the pandemic has massively impacted on the Horatio Garden appeal."

Award-winning gardener Sarah Price is behind the designs for the project

The garden is being designed by Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winner Sarah Price, from Abergavenny, Monmouthshire.

"This garden at Llandough Hospital is unique, because usually when you design a garden for a hospital there's no view or you're hemmed In by hospital buildings," said the gardener.

"But here we are really lucky. We have far reaching views towards the sea, and you can see the rolling fields and surrounding oak trees."

There is still a long way to go before building starts at the end of the year, with organisers saying they still need to find £275,000.