Triathlete Nearing End Of 10,000 Mile Cycling Trip

Charlotte Roach is cycling from China to the UK to raise money for the East Midlands charity that helped save her life.

In November of 2009 triathlete Charlotte Roach, 23, was run over by a Land Rover in Loughborough, UK where she was based while training full-time for the 2012 Olympics.

She was critically injured and suffered two punctured lungs, multiple broken ribs, 12 fractured vertebrae and a broken collarbone.

But thanks to the actions of the Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA) Roach found herself coming fourth in an elite European cup triathlon race just six months after her accident – despite having metalwork in her spine and a broken collarbone.

In July last year she embarked on a mammoth bike ride from China to the UK to raise money for the DLRAA and is due to arrive back to England tomorrow, having so far raised almost £7,000.

Charlotte, from Hoole, Cheshire, said: “I survived only because of the expertise of a Leicester Tiger’s rugby physio who happened to come across the scene, and the speed and expertise of the air ambulance service, who unlike other services carry a doctor on board.”

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