10-day run to aid the disabled

TWELVE-abled and differently-abled people will be running from Pretoria to Cape Town over a 10-day period to raise funds and create awareness for children living with disabilities.

One Chance At Life (OCAL) Global Journey for Change, a nonprofit organisation, has identified the Northern Cape as having the highest prevalence of persons with disabilities in the country.

The fourth annual drive will take to the streets on May 9 and embark on a 24-hour challenge that spans to over 2 200km over a 10-day period.

The 12-member team has been split into two groups of six which will each take up the challenge at 12-hour intervals. The first group will start from 9am in Pretoria before they hand over the baton to the second team at 9pm. They will make their way through the Kalahari, hug the border of Namibia, the Cederberg Mountain and will culminate at the FNB 12 OneRun in Cape Town on May 19.

Among those competing will be night crew team captain Andrew Ross, from Edgemead, who will compete in his second Global Journey For Change.

“The main reason is a tribute to my uncles who passed away with muscular dystrophy. I like to believe that with each step I take, it’s a step for them, hence why I run with their names on my shoes,” he said.

Nicolene Anley, chief executive and founder of OCAL Global, said people were disabled not because of their conditions, but due to the fact they lived in an inadequately adaptable world.

“The OCAL Global Journey for Change aims to highlight that people living with disabilities are not broken, but only ‘differently abled’ and deserve the right to mobility, health care, education and a brighter future,” she said.

SUPPLIED RICHARD Stemmet, Ryan Anley, Nicolene Anley, Zaid Osman, Andrew Ross and Andre Pienaar.