Yorkshire stone mason paralysed in work accident completes his own adapted triathlon event

Martyn Piercy, 47, who broke his back and neck in 2015, spent three months training for his cycle, walk and swim challenge with his cousin Stephen Piercy, 42.

He began at 8am with a 100 metre walk in callipers across his back garden while Stephen set off on a six-mile run, which they both completed in roughly an hour.

The pair then took to the road for a 15-mile cycle ride before heading over to their local pool, where Martyn completed a 500m swim while Stephen swam 750m.

Friends and family were present to roar the pair on when they finished the final section of their gruelling four-hour physical event in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, on Sunday.

Martyn said the toughest part of the challenge was his time in the water after his right leg - which he can normally use to kick for 250 metres - froze up soon after he began.

He said: “It was a 17 metre long pool, and my legs hardly had any kick quite early on in the process. I was just using my upper body.

“When I walk, my legs get heavy and tired, and when I was on the bike, my arms get tired, so putting that together, I had to work hard on the swim.

“But you shouldn’t do this if you don’t want to be challenged.”

Cricket-mad Martyn, who previously played for Yorkshire's under-19 team, was flown to hospital by air ambulance following his freak workplace incident in August 2015.

And despite undergoing emergency nine-hour surgery, he sadly still lost mobility in the lower part of his body.

He came up with the idea for the event with his cousin and former batting partner Stephen before they set about creating the unique course near his home.

And Martyn said it was “special” for the pair to complete their swim in an almost identical time while raising almost £5,000 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

He said: “We finished the last length together, within a second of each other, which worked out really well.

“We’ve been partners for 10 years, so it was quite special to complete it together. We were used to cricket balls flying over our heads at 90 miles an hour.”

The pair initially set out to raise £2,000 but their current tally stand at £4,959. Visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/martyn-piercy-1677264161108 to donate.