Simon Richardson Update (27/8/11)

Post-It Note Message of Goodwill

Day 10 - Simons condition remains critical but stable.  He's doing slightly better today, the drain has been removed from his chest and he's communicating with Amanda by raising his eyebrows or blinking.  He remains sedated, so communication is limited but on the positive side, he's aware of what's going on.

Amanda received a lovely letter of support from Sir Philip Craven MBE this week.  Sir Philip is the President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and a member of the International Olympic Committee.  Sir Philip was in Beijing in 2008 and watched Simon secure his gold medals, so hearing news of the crash he has extended his best wishes in support of Simon's recovery.

This weekend sees riders up and down the country riding their bikes or showing support for Simon in many ways.  A particularly touching gesture are the post-it notes that have been left on Simon's image at an exhibition in Lladudno.  Former track sprinter Denise Hampson was there and sent the photo over.  Spontaneous acts of kindness and support like this are so hugely appreciated by Simons family, thank you everyone who continues to show their support.

At my cafe stop this morning (I bashed out 55M in the soaking rain in support of Simon), I spent twenty minutes of so talking to the owner about a friend of her son's who'd been knocked off his motorbike.  He sustained terrible injuries and she spoke very emotionally about the impact that it had on his family and friends, I felt quite emotional as she told me as it reminded me of Simon's situation.  As I was leaving she said that she would say a prayer for Simon tonight, people can be so kind. #SIMONSTRONG

Note to Press; Simon Richardson is a double-gold Paralympic cyclist.  On the track in Bejing 2008 he won the LC3/4 1km time trial and 3km individual pursuit. He also claimed a silver in the road time trial and assisted team mate Darren Kenny to victory in the road race.  Further details can be found on his Wikipedia page.