David's drive to raise bike cash

Oct 10 2010 by Dan Warburton, Sunday Sun

TIME is running out for David Burdus to get back on his motorbike . . . more than two decades after he fractured five vertebrae in a horrific crash.

Days before his 21st birthday, David, of Corbridge, Northumberland, broke his back while riding a motorbike at a roundabout in Spennymoor, County Durham.

He spent 10 months lying in a hospital ward and endured a further two years of tests, surgery and physiotherapy.

But more than 25 years after the accident, David, now 47, is launching a fundraising drive.

The dad-of-one is hoping to buy a specially designed motorbike that will help other wheelchair users share his experience of getting back in the saddle.

It is hoped that wounded soldiers, those undergoing rehabilitation programmes and people suffering back problems could all benefit from the modified machine which is designed for wheelchair users.

But he is facing a race against time to purchase one of the last remaining models in the UK. There are only a handful remaining in the country and he is hoping to raise around £13,000 to fund the purchase.

Last year David, who lives with his fiancee Janet Pallister, a communications officer, undertook a mammoth trek in order to raise funds for the disability charity Capability Scotland.

During that journey he borrowed the specially designed three-wheeled bike to travel from Edinburgh across Europe to Berlin.

Last night David said the bike could potentially help other disabled people, including ex-servicemen and women who have been injured in conflicts.

He said: “A Darlington company who have loaned me its trike twice have said they will hold it for me for a limited period if I can raise the money for it.

“The guy who organised my drive to Berlin is going to head up a fundraising appeal.