Saints wheelchair rugby captain leads the way by cycling 2,020km in January using just one leg

An amputee who is the captains the Northampton Saints wheelchair rugby team cycled 2,020km during the month of January.

Gerry McCrory set himself the challenge that equated to 65km a day, to raise much-needed funds for his team.

But not satisfied it was difficult enough, Gerry decided to opt out of using his prosthetic leg.

The 44-year-old said: “I do have a prosthetic leg but I wanted to do it without it to make it more challenging, so I did it on one leg.

“The fitness wasn’t going to be a problem and that didn’t put me off the challenge. I was concerned about doing it on one leg and picking up an injury.

“But the main problem was getting up every morning at 5.30am to get the challenge done before I went to work. It was just the timing that was the hard bit of it really.”

Gerry completed the majority of the challenge on a spin bike he has in his home in Brixworth, although he did also complete one of his final days at the Grosvenor Centre in Northampton.

As part of the 2,020km challenge in January 2020, Gerry wanted to raise £2,020 for the rugby club.

He added: “The club played a massive part in my recovery and a massive part in my son’s life so I wanted to give something back to them and raise some funds for equipment.

“It’s an aggressive sport so we go through a lot of wheels and gloves and the cost of that adds up.

“I completed the challenge on Friday - thank god.

“I’ve raised £3,850. I smashed the target I was going for thanks to the generosity of a lot of good people.”

The money Gerry has raised is also set to go towards helping people with disabilities get involved in sport.

Jamie Higgins, inclusion officer at Northampton Saints, said: “It is great that Gerry has decided to fundraise for the Saints’ wheelchair rugby team.

“He is a great advocate for the sport but also in relation to proving that disability does not mean no ability.

“Cycling 65km every day is no easy feat if you have two legs, let alone one.

“Gerry’s fundraising will help towards the wheelchair rugby programme as a whole and will help support people with disabilities to get involved in sport, where sometimes they feel excluded due to physical barriers and Gerry showing what is possible with a disability may encourage others like him and his teammates.”