Adrian’s back on track

BIG RIDE AHEAD: Adrian West will compete in the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge tomorrow after recovering from a serious back injury.

Relevant offers

Sport

Women call coach to take footy team Tonu'u looks back at season launch Stephen eyes up Olympics Kids’ jiu jitsu class a great workout Record falls in marathon Waikato take it to United All sides on equal footing A perfect chance for junior surfers Jono’s on top of the world Australia next stop

Budding cyclist Adrian West was in danger of never walking again a year ago.

Now he is about to tackle the gruelling Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge.

Lining up for the lung-busting slog on Saturday will complete an impressive recovery from serious injury for the Titirangi resident.

He had hoped to have a crack at the event last year but fate struck a cruel blow just after he signed up to take part.

"It started when I was at work one morning and felt a little jolt in my back," he says. "It was nothing drastic or painful. It wasn’t very sore at all but then over a 45-minute period I went from being physically able to having pins and needles and then complete paralysis from the waist down."

The IT manager was trying to clamber into his car when he lost the feeling in his legs.

"I was walking around at work and noticed the severity of the pins and needles was getting worse and worse.

"I’d just sat down in the car and went to swing my legs in but couldn’t move them."

His boss drove him to the medical centre in New Lynn but the doctors were stumped and sent him off to North Shore Hospital.

"Luckily for me one of the top orthopedic surgeons in New Zealand was on duty.

"He came down to have a look and a few hours later I was undergoing five hours of surgery."

The problem was cauda equina syndrome – a rare neurologic condition in which there is an acute loss of function of the nerve roots in the spinal cord.

"It can happen to anyone at any time," Adrian, 49, says.

"The scary bit was that I faced the possibility of not being able to walk again. That was quite a daunting prospect for a family man with young kids."

Time is of the essence once the condition is diagnosed and the father-of-two was fortunate such expert medical help was on hand.

"The longer it goes on the more damage is done to the nervous system. I was lucky that my surgeon recognised it and was able to get in there quickly."

Adrian faced a long road back to fitness and is yet to fully recover.

"I still have an area of paralysis through the groin which doesn’t have any feeling. And I get lower back aches which are quite painful but that’s to be expected."

The lingering side effects will make the 160km race a tough nut to crack.

"Most people doing the training are quite comfortable up to about 60 or 70km but I start feeling it after about 25 or 30km," he says.

"I do think I’ll struggle but I’m confident I’ll come through it okay."

His longest stint on a bike so far has been 120km – an impressive distance but still 40km short of the target.

"This will be the longest I have ever ridden for and just to finish would be an achievement.

"If I can do it in under seven hours I’ll be very happy."