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Northern News : May 15th 2013
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Wednesday, May 15, 2013 INSIDE E-EDITION MONEY’$ worth Rob Stock College chief Transparency Finance Zero tolerance Northland College gets a new principal – P2 Ngati Hine chairman Waihoroi Shortland calls for Ngapuhi Trust to open its books – P3 Check out this week’s Money’s Worth Column by Rob Stock - winner of the business reporter category at this year’s Canon Media Awards – P9 Kaeo has had enough of burglaries and vandalism. And Kaikohe shows the way – P7 and go to northernnews. co.nz for a video clip of the Kaeo rally. Riding to Nepal By HAMISH MacLEAN Big Cycle: Amy Shaw knows she’ll be challenged when she sets off to ride over 10 mountain passes in Tibet this June. But the challenge may be even greater for the three tetraplegics she is accompanying. The former Kaikohe resident is taking part in the Big Cycle, a ride to raise $1 million for spinal cord research. AMY Shaw is riding her bike to ‘‘the rooftop of the world’’ so that others can have a chance to walk. The Far North resident grew up in Kaikohe but now lives and works in Perth. She often returns to her home town and it was a friend here who asked her to be part of the Big Cycle from Lhasa in Tibet to Kathmandu in Nepal. Hand-cyclist Rob Creagh had an accident under a friend’s car at 17 and broke his neck. Amy will be his carer on the trip. Other members of the team of 15 include hand-cyclists and former equestrian show jumper Catriona Williams and Neil Cudby, who broke his neck playing rugby at the age of 17. The route over 10 mountain passes in the Himalayas will be tackled by the three hand-cyclists – all tetra- plegics – and their carers as well as members of the CatWalk Trust and the Spinal Cord Injury Network Australia. The aim is to raise $1 million for spinal cord research. Amy says she is beginning to get a bit nervous before her trip in June and is cycling the hills in Perth to get fit. ‘‘It’s reasonably flat around here. That’s a problem. And then altitude sickness and all that stuff, it’s going to be a bit of a mission.’’ Spinal cord injury is a topic close to Amy’s heart. A close friend had spinal surgery when they were at Okaihau College and ‘‘ended up in a wheelchair’’, she says. She’s still friends with the woman who now can walk with some help. Amy was in university, studying art and looking for part-time work when she responded to an advertise- ment placed by a woman looking for a carer. ‘‘I thought, ‘Oh yeah, I know what that’s all about because one of my mates is in a wheelchair.’ ‘‘I remember the first time working with her I was just overwhelmed,’’ Amy says. The group begins its month-long ride on June 14 in Lhasa. ‘‘I couldn’t possibly have said no to the opportunity,’’ Amy says. ❚ Go to catwalk.org.nz/content/big- cycle-team for more information on the Big Cycle or to sponsor Amy as a rider.
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