My life changed forever on March 12th 2010 when my three children were involved in a head-on collision - they were being driven home from primary school by their granny.

My eldest, Alexandra (now 15), was a bit bruised but OK, my middle child Holly (now 13) was lucky to survive (she went through a 6-day induced coma, needed metal plates inserted into her neck and lower back, and needed brain surgery to reduce swelling in order to survive) and is now wheelchair bound, permanently disabled from the waist down, while my youngest, beautiful little lion-man Adam (4), was killed. We stayed at Starship for 39 days, and then the Wilson Centre in Takapuna for 4 months as we watched our little daughter struggle through rehab and got used to the routines and ongoing medical issues of living with and loving someone in a wheelchair.

I still wonder how my wife Natasha and I got through those early days - they are now a fog of pain, stress and the ultimate heartache. The agony of losing Adam will never go away.

I stumbled around for months afterwards, trying to find something with which to distract myself. That distraction has come in the form of the quest for the cure for spinal cord injury.

I am a trustee on the Catwalk Spinal Cord Injury Trust here in New Zealand, partly as a way to stay close to the latest cutting-edge research on spinal cord injury, but also so that I can raise money to help fund this elusive cure. Little Holly deserves better than this awful affliction, and I will do everything in my power to see her walk again.

A TV advert on Holly, made in 2015: https://youtu.be/sdTzKcnd0O8

After a successful 2015 Catwalk New York Marathon campaign in which we raised over NZD$120,000, I have decided to re-commit to the 2016 New York marathon because we had just so much fun! I have become ‘team leader’ of sorts, drumming up the rest of the 2016 Catwalk team as we get closer to the start line, and helping keep all of us on the same page as we go through this intense adventure together. 
As I crossed the finish line last year, smiling but spent, a moment of absolute clarity hit me – until I see my daughter Holly walk again, there is no finish line for me. I committed there and then to doing the New York marathon again (and again and probably again) until science cures spinal cord injury. To raise a similar quantity of funds for Catwalk as the 2015 team achieved is a huge ask this year as our team is smaller, but we will try regardless.

My 2016 GOAL: To beat my 2015 NY marathon time of 4h03m28s. Ideally, I’d like to go under 4 hours, which is 5 seconds faster per kilometre. Doesn't sound like much, but a world of difference to a struggler like me.

Last thing: We're hosting a MOVIE NIGHT in Auckland post-marathon on my birthday - 23rd November - so please buy tickets and attend if in town....153 seats, going fast! The team of 7 runners wil be attendance. Click on the link below for more info

www.facebook.com/events/316897938673571/