A Dakar Rally dream realised

IT’S taken ten tough years for Joey Evans (41), a courageous South African motorbike racer from Johannesburg with severe spinal injuries, to conquer his dream of racing in the gruelling Dakar Rally. And only through pure mental grit and steel like determination the sporting hero achieved the impossible earlier this year.

Despite suffering extensive physical injuries in an off road motorbike race which left him paralysed from the chest down in 2007, Evans refused to give up on his dream to race in the Dakar Rally.

“Life was very difficult for a long time as I came to terms with my injury and worked towards the best recovery possible. Walking seemed like an unattainable dream now let alone the Dakar.

“But as the months passed I went from learning to stand, to barely walking in parallel bars with back slabs on my legs, then onto crutches until eventually walking unaided. I still dreamed of the Dakar and it motivated me to still work towards that goal.”

The South African motorbike racer captured the world’s attention with his incredible testimony of unwavering determination and his personal journey of beating the odds.

Not only was Evans the only South African competitor to complete this year’s brutal 13-day race through Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina that covers 9000km and is considered one of the toughest rallies in the world, but he stopped to help every fallen competitor he came across. I encountered many unexpected challenges including tearing a ligament in my knee and having my bike driven over by a race car.

“There were many days where I arrived after midnight and spent more than 20 hours on the bike.

“But I was determined that despite all the challenges I had encountered, I was going to finish this race.”