The following article appeared in The Ottawa Citizen, Saturday, April 14, 2001

After 10 days at sea,
the truck started
on the first try

Mike Nemesvary
'Round the World Challenge

Mike Nemesvary, a former champion freestyle skier, is attempting to become the first quadriplegic to drive around the world - a 40,000 kilometer trek to raise funds for spinal cord injury research and rehabilitation.

Dublin, Ireland

It's Day 15 and I'm sitting in my room at the Jurys Inn in Dublin, Ireland. Apart from our departure from Parliament Hill, today was our second most significant and eventful day.

We made our way by taxi to the Dublin docks to retrieve the truck which had been sitting in its container over the North Atlantic for the past 10 days.

With considerable trepidation and with baited breath my partner Christine Gundlack, team member George Swinimer and I watched as the door to the container was carefully opened. Thankfully, everything was intact and the truck was in the exact condition we had left it.

Now came the challenge of getting the truck out of the container.

Next to me, Christine has the most knowledge of the workings of my modified truck; as the slimmest and most nimble of the group, she was unanimously appointed to the daunting task.

With everyone watching, Christine crawled on the roof and slipped in through the driver's side window to start the engine and reverse the truck out of the container all in a standing position no less.

The moment of truth was answered with a resounding "Yes!" as the engine started on the first try and we were almost back in business.

George and Christine both quickly attended to my directions which included re-attaching a control arm which opens/closes the electronic door; re-engaged the logic board which operate the hydraulic Elaine-Ann Lift System and re-fastened the roof container to the top of the truck.

I can't describe how happy and relieved I was to finally wheel onto the lift and position myself back in the driver's seat in preparation for Leg 2: Ireland to India!

With little time to rest or reflect, we were quickly en route to the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dunlaghaire - just outside of Dublin.

It was a little tricky adjusting to driving a left-hand drive vehicle in a right-hand drive country, but within a half-hour I was getting into the groove and driving with my usual confidence.

At the National Rehabilitation Hospital we were greeted by Joan, a representative and quadriplegic representing the Irish Spinal Injuries Association.

We were escorted to the hospital's "day room" where I gave a talk on the ‘Round the World Challenge to a group of 25 patients, doctors and clinicians.

I heard familiar complaints from the audience about the serious lack of accessible public transportation and of the need for legislation protecting the rights of people with disabilities. I expect we will hear similar complaints many times during the coming months.

Despite being on track in terms of the itinerary and schedule, we are all feeling a little overwhelmed and tired. In order to complete our daily tasks we have to get up daily at approximately 6:30am.

Staying in Essex, England, in a real home and in one place for the past week was refreshing and relaxing But the logistics involved in planning each week and dealing with inaccessibility issues, such as needing to be lifted up and down a flight of stairs to bathe and go to bed, takes its toll on the entire team.

Despite the pressure and frantic pace we're all quite happy to have the truck and our independence back and to finally be on the road again.

Our next stop, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

By the way, the odometer reading this morning on my trusty old truck was 203,792.

For the record, Leg I clocked in at 1,795 kilometres...not counting the overseas part of the trip. Only 38,758 kilometres to go.

For more info about the Challenge, visit http://www.roundtheworldchallenge.com

• Approximately 35,000 Canadians have spinal cord injuries.

• Approximately 50% of permanent spinal cord injuries result in quadriplegia and 50% result in paraplegia.

• 80% of people who sustain a spinal cord injury are between the ages of 18 and 34.

• Four times as many men than women sustain spinal cord injuries.

• Car and other motor vehicle collisions account for 40% of spinal cord injuries.

• People who sustain a spinal cord injury resulting in paraplegia have the same life expectancy rates as the general public.

• Individuals with spinal cord injuries have the same marriage and divorce rates as that of the general population.

• With advances in medical technology and maternity medical care, men and women with spinal cord injuries are able to have children.

• Individuals with a spinal cord injury with post secondary education are more than twice as likely to be employed as those without.

• 45% of individuals with a spinal cord injury who returned to employment required accessibility modifications.

• Studies in the United States following legislation requiring accessibility modifications, found the average cost of modifications for an individual business was less than $500.

• One of the largest challenges faced by people with spinal cord injuries is attitudes of others.