Wiggle SteelMan latest victory for inspirational Nicola

16th July 2015

We were delighted to see plenty of smiling faces crossing the finish line at Wiggle SteelMan last Saturday, but one person who caught our attention was Nicola Wilding. In 2000 Nicola heartbreakingly lost the use of her right arm in a car crash. After a lot of hard work and determination she has gained feeling back in some of the arm, but will never be able to use her hand again. Several years ago she made the bold decision that she wanted her hand to be amputated and replaced by a state-of-the-art bionic hand.

The aim is to raise the initial £50,000 required to complete the conversion herself, and as part of that mission Nicola took part in the Aquathlon at Wiggle SteelMan. After finishing we caught up with this inspirational lady to find out how she got on.

“I really enjoyed doing an aquathlon, you don’t see them very often. I’ve taken part in both Lidl BananaMan and the Shock Absorber WomenOnly Tri before, but struggled on the bike leg as I can’t use my right hand. It seems every bike has gears on the right hand side, so I had to ask a friend to ride alongside me and change gear which was far from ideal! The aquathlon at Wiggle SteelMan appealed to me as I could cut out the cycle leg of a triathlon, plus I know Human Race Events are well organised and welcoming.”

Nicola completed the 1,500m swim and 10k run in 1 hour and 39 minutes smashing the target she had set herself. “I’m absolutely delighted with my time, and I’m already looking for my next event. I notice Human Race are organising the Garmin Kingston Run Challenge in October so I might be tempted to do that”.

Having already raised £9,000 to complete the first stage of the process that determines how susceptible your brain will be to a bionic hand, Nicola must now raise a daunting £50,000 to pay for the technology and operation. “The trip to Vienna for the tests went well so now my target is to raise the remainder. I’ve got to the stage where I have exhausted my friends and family, so would really appreciate any assistance I can get either in raising funds or awareness of my mission”.

The inspirational attitude that Nicola radiates makes her a joy to speak to and compete alongside. If you would like to help make her dream a reality you can contribute here: www.gofundme.com