And that’s in only 2 days. 

So, a reminder, if you’re not on the list of attendees yet ( and you don’t HAVE to spin), then  please email Dan on danW@thehogarth.co.uk

However it pans out it’ll be good fun. 

I shan’t be making any speeches as my voice makes that of Stephen Hawking sound macho, but I believe Dan might. 

If anyone wants to sing/ tap dance/ get themselves noticed then I’m sure the microphone would be available. 

(We may all regret that I’ve just posted that..)

Jesus, they gave me a ‘bed shower’ this morning. A lovely lady called Lisa had the dubious pleasure of washing everything that I couldn’t reach (or just didn’t fancy touching myself) 

.. What a lucky girl. 

Despite having 8 visitors today, all of whom were absolutely lovely (Dani, Debs, Chrissy, Dan, James. Nic and Jay ), the frustration of being confined to bed is significant. 

I’ve pulled on my resistance straps, tried to stretch and move what I can as much as poss, yet still can’t get comfortable!

Hopefully I’ll be ok by Friday. 

Again Dan excels himself with his post last night..

I hope a whole lot of you can make it on the 18th of October to The Hogath Club to ride a bike for the Spine-a-thon and/ or come to gimme a kiss!

Just had a thought. How about the ladies all wearing vivid lipstick and targeting a total covering of my face in the stuff. 

Only one kiss per cute lady, ok 😉

Russ

PS a certain James Cracknell came to see me today ( as he did in Toulon , a visit I can’t recollect as I was semi comatosed ). 

James won two Olympic gold medals in rowing and is a household name in Britain. He’s an extraordinary guy, whose exploits have made the papers ( as well as 3 books ) for many yrs. 

But we have something in common, besides being mates, in that we both suffered horrific bicycle crashes , both were comatosed, and both have been irreversibly affected for life. 

J and I talked a fair bit today, and I felt a deeper connection than ever before. We’ve both lost a lot, but in different ways, him more sensory and me more physically. 

There is however the possibility that in both our personal lives and in our outward projected personas that we can yet become better people than we were before.

But that’s up to him and I. 

I hope that both of us are able to be strong enough to  grasp the opportunity. 

Hi there

 

Received your message today at the end of stage 2. Thank you. How you can think of others at this time of your recovery is admirable. I really appreciate it.

 

It has been a tough day on my feet. They are brutalized at the end of day two. Tomorrow is the long stage. 87 km. Tylenol will have to be my friend…..

 

Lots of hugs – hope you are staying strong! Thinking of you J Monique

Message from Dan 

– Now that Russ has paddled his way back from the River Styx and is showing extraordinary powers of recovery, the time has come to celebrate his survival in the manner he approves of most – physical suffering and the consumption of large amounts of alcohol.

 Russ and Dani have done the Spin-a-thon at the Hogarth since its beginning and from now on, this annual charity event will be re-named the Spine-a-thon, in aid of spinal charities. Russ’s suggestion. 

The event runs from 1800 Friday 18th – 1800 Saturday 19th October 2013. Those of you who would like to raise a bit of money by spinning for a minimum of one hour or even the full 24, if you’re that crazy, email me with your phone number and the unfortunate bastard that I delegate to organise the event will call you to organise a slot.

 Of course, there is no need to be a Member of the Hogarth to take part. Appropriately, we will have a hand-cranked bike that we will keep going for the full 24 hours.

 But before that , at 8pm on Friday 18th October, I would like to invite you all to an event some of us feared we might never see – a party featuring the great man himself.

 I’m sure it will be an emotional evening.

 Those of you who want to have a beer with Russ, please email me, so I know how many vol aux vents to order from Iceland…

 All the bar profits will go towards the charities, so the more you drink, the more they make. At some point during the evening I will make an announcement, no Russ and I aren’t getting married, whatever he says on his blog.

 …It’s something else.

 Dan White

 8pm Friday 18th October 

The Hogarth Health Club Airedale Avenue Chiswick W4 2NW 

Many types of Alcoholic Refreshment 

Food

Music 

Russell Dawkins rsvp – danw@thehogarth.co.uk

Please come, it’ll basically be a party, in aid of a great cause,  and I’m sure Russ will appreciate the attendance of each and every one of you that spares the time. 

Of course the problem is that I can’t feel anything so don’t know I’ve done it. 

The consequence is that I now have to stay in bloody bed for days, on my side, til it heals, missing out on the proper start of my rehab. 

I can still use the various elastic exercise bands that I have attached to the bed, but in it I must stay. 

Also I’ll not be able to be taken out tomorrow night,  and maybe not the night after,  by mates. 

I feel the road  ahead will be littered with potholes, lots of them unseen til I’ve wheeled into them. 

I’ll try not to let this get me down, but days in bed are NOT my idea of a holiday. I felt that I was really getting somewhere until this setback. 

Anyhow, there are hundreds of antique shows on daytime TV interspersed with my very welcome stream of visitors. 

Most importantly, I’m hoping I’ll be healed to go home again on Friday!

Fingers crossed. 

It’ll be a tough week for her!

Even tho I only visited our kitchen and garden, I appreciated them like never before. 

I also went to see Lily in hockey practice, for the first time in 4 months. She was so chuffed I was there, I could tell. 

Amber gave me fantastic cuddles as Iay in bed, and I must have spent 15 minutes tickling my daughters in our made up ‘ where’s that earwig?’ game…:)

It makes coming back bearable knowing I’ll be home again next Friday afternoon!

Thanks to all those that came to see me, and those that stopped to talk to me, everyone concerned for my Wellbeing. 

I want to say good luck to my friend, Dr Monique Dube, who’s about to commence the G2G – running the whole length of the Grand Canyon!

Check out her progress on the web 

Oh, and thanks to my neighbours, Jonny and Farina who, mindful of my excess of reading material, bought me an extremely classy book of famous, but largely kinky, pics. 

Now that’s more like it…

I’m now back in SM counting down the days til Friday. 

Russ

It’s very hard to single out one person that’s been extra special, as so many have been there for me. 

But I’m going to. 

I first met Dan White in 1991. I’d lived in London for 2 yrs , and belonged to The Hogarth Club most of that time. 

It was principally a squash and tennis club, very posh for a spit and sawdust Welsh Valleys Boy like me. I initially felt like a fish out of water there, most members seeming so au fait with the ‘niceness’ of the luxury of the clubs’ amenities. 

I was basically a big, ugly rugby player whose main aim was to lift as heavy weights as I could as many times as possible. I can safely say that I was back then extremely strong and I suppose the fact that I could handle more weights than anyone else got me noticed. 

In no time at all I, along with Dani, became established members of the club, contributing let’s say, very enthusiastically, to the social scene that was very integral to the club’s ‘ thing ‘.  

 I’d been a member  there for a good  year  before I met the owner ,Colin White’s son, Dan. I should say here that Colin has been a wonderful friend of the family now for many years, and there are  a whole load of separate stories involving Mr White Senior!

I recall seeing this wiry, hard looking bloke striding purposefully across the car park and, as was my way in those days, sort of weighing him up physically. 

We said hello to eachother, and I think that was it. 

I was introduced personally at some point soon after by Pia, his then wife, and  before long, they, Dani and I became close friends.  We drank a lot together , partied hard, and spent a lot of ski trips together at their chalet in Chamonix. 

I couldn’t really believe that I’d met someone well off enough to own a luxury ski chalet and what’s more, I kept getting invited to go there!

Dan, at that time, was in the army, then in the elite TA regiment, spending a lot of time away on exercise, and when home spent his time ( as a builder by trade ) looking after the infrastructure of their 2 health clubs. 

Dan’s brother, Patrick, was a lot more interested in the running of the clubs, leaving Dan to pursue his own physical and construction interests. Each brother, I think it fair to say, was satisfied with his lot..

Tragically, Patrick died on a family beach holiday in 2001, leaving a wife and 3 small children bereft of a great husband and Daddy. 

This tragedy left Dan with the obligation of stepping into Patrick’s Managing Director shoes, footwear that Dan wasn’t necessarily that keen to fill…. too much of a ‘proper desk job’ for Dan really, but one that inevitably he’s made his own, supported by his senior team, most of whom I’ve known for years ( as no one ever leaves the Hogarth Group ! )

(As an aside, if you’re looking to join a health club in West London, please make it one of Dan’s! The Hogarth is in Chiswick, and The Park Club is in Acton  

They’re quite different clubs, but visit both  and join the one you like best). 

Over the years Dan got me diversifying into various athletic pursuits, including running marathons, taking up a mental sport called Adventure Racing, and endurance kayaking. 

We’ve suffered the elements through thick and thin, one occasion being quite memorable. We were training for the 125 mile Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race. As relative novices we decided to paddle the 25 miles from Staines to Chiswick. It was February and f’ing freezing. The Thames was flowing very fast and as we approached Richmond bridge we fell out. We were swept in the fast current towards barges straining at their moorings on the Twickenham side of the river. The boat and paddles were speeding away from us. Neither of us are really strong swimmers so found ourselves very suddenly in a potentially drowning situation…. 

Instinctively I swam after the upturned boat and paddles, reaching them ( after the boat had been sucked under a barge and popped out the other side ) and somehow then got hold of, I think, a bit of overhanging tree. In the meantime Dan had managed to get himself out of the swirling water and came to my aid. 

We pulled the boat out and,  shivering, walked the boat, in the dark, over Richmond Town bridge. 

The bright lights of The White Hart pub drew us in, dripping in freezing water. 

We left the boat and paddles on the path and went into the bar. As we had no money or phones, we cadged a small beer each and we were also allowed a free phone call ( it was a bit like being arrested ). 

Dan called his brother, who said he’d come and pick us up. 

If you’re cold cos you’re soaked, the easiest way to get warm is to take off your soaked clothes. 

Dan and I therefore made our way to the gents. 

The look on the face, a few minutes later, of the fella who came into the toilet to have a pee, in a civilised pub in Richmond upon Thames,  to be confronted by 2 totally naked muscley unshaven blokes, is one that’ll stick with me forever…I don’t think he stayed to have that pee. 

Dan remarried 2 yrs ago, to Saskia. I was truly honoured to be asked to be his Best Man. Obviously I seized on the opportunity to recount as many hilarious stories about our times together as I could. And believe me, there are far worse ones than the near drowning naked toilet escapade. 

Two years on and I find myself paralysed.

Dan flew to Toulon the day after my accident. Since I was unconscious , I have only other people’s accounts of his attentiveness, communication, organisational and morale boosting influence in the weeks that followed. 

My brothers are completely in awe of him and he has touched all that met him during that period with his absolute dedication to me. 

Now that I’m awake and reasonably myself again I am grateful every day for the unrelenting acts of kindness that Dan shows me. I think, if I’m honest, that my accident has brought out into the public arena the amazing abilities and touch that only  those who are close to him realised that he is capable of. 

For example I’ve come home this weekend in his car, slept in a bed that he’s assembled, been wheeled up steps in my house that he’s built ramps for. 

I could go on for some time yet in this vein, but I know that Dan is an uncomfortable receiver of compliments, always erring on the side of modesty, and downplaying his contributions and achievements. 

Despite that, I really, really want to make public that his friendship and character  over the last 3 months has been incredible. 

Dan, I love you. 

Russ.