Dave Jones is an NRG PT athlete and he is racing Ironman Florida as a fundraiser for his brother Pete who became a quadriplegic last year in a mountain bike accident
Dear friends,
As most of you know, last year my older brother Pete had a mountain biking accident in London and as a result became a quadriplegic. Despite being an experienced rider and wearing his helmet, the impact of his fall shattered his fourth vertebrate and left him paralyzed from the shoulders down. Today Pete faces the challenges and costs of specialized equipment that enable him to gain independence and move from a hospital to an assisted living facility.
A group of family and friends has joined together to create “For Pete’s Sake”, a community of support for Pete. Our objective is to raise $25,000 for equipment he needs, including a power wheelchair with head operated controls, a manual wheelchair, a hydraulic bed, a pressure relief mattress and many other things. While the equipment can’t give Pete back his mobility, it does contribute to increasing his independence and allowing him to live outside of a hospital or nursing home.
Through the efforts of dedicated friends and family, we’ve been able to raise $18,000 so far and are working hard to raise the final $7,000 required. A few tidbits to give you a sense of the great work that’s been happening this year…..first, a man named Frosty (ok, it’s his nickname) walked from a bar Pete used to work at in downtown London to the base of the CN Tower (a 191 km walk!!!); then, the Grandview cottage association held two lakeside membership raffles; several bars and restaurants in London hosted a variety of events; 12 people each ran 5km at the Toronto Waterfront marathon in September; 56 Arthur Andersen Alumni got together to reminisce old times and support the effort; and two community associations Pete’s grandfather belonged to in the early ’70s have offered to help.
Coming up, another friend is running the New York City marathon on November 7th; and still others are organizing their own events such as a home decorating seminar and an M&M donation machine! For Pete’s Sake has really been a source of inspiration to me this year. It’s truly been amazing to see not only that people are willing to help out, but how excited and willing everyone is to get involved.
So – on to my crazy event ….On Saturday November 6th, I’ll be in Florida competing in an Ironman Triathlon in honour of Pete and to raise money for For Pete’s Sake. In case you haven’t heard my bellyaching over the past year :-), an Ironman is composed of a 3.8 km swim, a 180 km bike and a 42.2 km run (yup, one race, all together). While I do love triathlon, I’ve yet to complete the distances as one event but am pumped and ready to give it a try! The purpose of this email is to ask you to consider sponsoring me for this event. Every contribution is appreciated, gets us closer to our goal and, most importantly, will help Pete as he works to regain his independence.
To learn more about For Pete’s Sake, please check out our website at www.4petessake.com. If you are interested in sponsoring me in this event, please (a) give me a call (416 725 1609 or 416 544 8503), (b) send me an email (dave.jones@sunlife.com or dave@4petessake.com), or (c) visit www.4petessake.com.
Thank you for taking the time to learn about For Pete’s Sake. Have a great day!!
Dave
www.ironmanflorida.com