GEORGE NEWS - Thirty years ago, three days before his seventeenth birthday, Johan Koen was involved in a motorcycle accident. He broke his neck at the C6 and C7 vertebrae and spent five months in hospital in Pretoria.
Koen had been a keen athlete, taking part in the various middle-distance events as well as a number of half-marathons. After the accident, he did not participate much in sport apart from the occasional outing in his wheelchair and gym session.
It was not until he relocated to Riversdale in 2015 that he first laid eyes on a hand cycle and his passion for the sport was born. He has logged over 7 000km to date.
From 2015 to 2017, he competed in a chair donated by a charity organisation. The late Fanie Joubert bought him a new chair in 2017, something he will always be grateful for. Koen completed the Cape Town Cycle Tour the following year, albeit with assistance from his fellow cyclists after he broke a chain 8km from the finish.
His latest accomplishment was a ninth-place finish at this year’s Cango 42km marathon. Koen hopes to enter his fourth full marathon at the Outeniqua Cycle Challenge in September, should his health permit it.
He is grateful for the support from Baleia Wines which has enabled him to compete until now. However, he is currently raising funds and also looking for a sponsor for better equipment so that he can take his performance to the next level.
Away from cycling, Koen started painting in 2018 and is determined to continue improving his skills. With his positive attitude and ready smile, there is no doubt he will accomplish all these goals.
Shaun Butler
Shaun Butler broke his neck (T3-T5) on Easter Sunday 2014 on a ride with his motorcycle club, The Syndicate MC, while delivering Easter eggs to underprivileged children.
The accident came at a particularly difficult time in his life as his grandfather had been diagnosed with cancer not long before that.
Butler was transferred to the Aurora Rehabilitation Centre in Port Elizabeth. Nine weeks later, through sheer determination, he had set a record for the fastest recovery from the highest-grade injury dealt with by the centre.
“I had been keeping active and had started going to gym shortly before the accident. This is what motivated me and I believe it was my saving grace,” said Shaun.
He took part in his first OCC 5km fun event in 2015, using a day-to-day wheelchair but immediately saw the potential of racing as a sport. After acquiring a racing cycle in July 2016, he began to progress quickly, completing his first 50km two months later. He was hooked.
In 2017 he competed in the OCC 42km marathon for the first time in his third appearance, but he missed last year’s event. He is looking forward to competing again this year although he is still not sure if he’ll be ready for the full marathon and may compete in the half-marathon.
Butler is grateful to the organisers who rescued the event and also to his support team, Knysna Toyota and George Switchboards where he is currently responsible for marketing. He wished all the competitors good luck.
The Outeniqua Cycle Challenge
The 17th OCC, a wheelchair race which attracts athletes from all over the world, will take place in George on Saturday 14 September. It is a race exclusively for disabled athletes, and every year it is getting bigger and better. The number of entries has increased dramatically, with disabled athletes and other persons in wheelchairs flocking to George to participate.
The OCC is not only unique in being the first and only event exclusively for the disabled in South Africa, but it is staged in the picturesque town of George, in the heart of the spectacular Garden Route in the Western Cape, situated at the foot of magnificent Outeniqua Mountains.
Athletes in racing wheelchairs, adapted bicycles, hand cycles, basketball chairs and ordinary wheelchairs have made this into the premier sporting event for the disabled on the South African sporting calendar. It undoubtedly has the potential to develop into one of the best events of its kind in the world.
Apart from the George Municipality and George Business Chamber, Lancewood and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport are supporting the event. Halfway Toyota is the venue host for the event.
The organising body is the Disabled Road Race Foundation (DRFF). The race organiser, Alewijn Dippenaar may be contacted on 082 457 5675.
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