Swasie Turner MBE

summary

Swasie is known as “The Wheelchair Pilot’

Since the traumatic loss of both his police career and his right leg due to an act of violence in the line of duty, which has left him confined to a wheelchair, Swasie then suffered the inconsolable loss of his beloved wife and childhood sweetheart Marjorie to the scourge of Cancer. Truly devastated by the death of his wife, Swasie then decided to raise money to fight this indiscriminate killer amongst us. He became a relentless, dedicated and totally obsessive crusader for this cause. Swasie has now pushed his wheelchair over 35,000 miles and raised almost £1,000,000 for his chosen charities and his fund raising ‘eccentricities’ have become widely known. This man is truly an inspiration. Don’t miss out!

biography

Since Swasie Turner’s wheelchair confinement from February 1997, Swasie has successfully completed the following:- ALL with his wheelchair:-

Climbed to the top of Leasowe Lighthouse, Wirral
As well as also abseiling down the outside of the same 135ft structure
Climbed to the top of New Brighton Lighthouse (Wallasey), Talacre Lighthouse (North Wales),
Pembroke Lighthouse (Falkland Islands), Blackpool Tower, Wallace Monument (Stirling)

Pushed (nearly 3 miles each way) across the sands of the Dee Estuary to Hilbre Island and back.
Pushed 41 miles non-stop from Talacre, North Wales, to his home in Wirral, time 11hrs 30 mins
Pushed 72 miles non-stop around the coastal roads of the Island of Anglesey, time 20hrs.
Pushed non-stop the full 38 mile Isle of Man TT racing course, time 11hrs 40mins
Pushed the annual 15 mile cross-country ’Wirral Walk’ 3 times.
Pushed the 26 mile ‘Egg Run’ (a motor cycle event)
Pushed the London Marathon. (The first NHS wheelchair to take part and complete this event)
Pushed the Robin Hood Marathon. (Again, a standard wheelchair first)
Pushed 60 mile non-stop from Christie Cancer Hospital, Manchester, to Clatterbridge Cancer Hospital, Wirral, 12hrs 40mis.
Pushed to every fire station in Merseyside Fire Brigade, 110 miles, 4 days.
Pushed John O’Groats to Land’s End, 943 miles, 44 days.
Pushed the 26 mile ‘Windsor Walk’ (which is only for able-bodied Police and ex Police officers from all European Countries).
Pushed across East Falkland from Port San Carlos to Stanley, 72 miles, retracing 3 Commando Brigade and 2 Para’s 1982 wartime trek, 4 days / 3 nights.
Pushed 500 miles from Stroud (Gloucs) to Dudestadt, near to what was the East German border.
Pushed (again) across West Falkland, 37 miles from Mount Pleasant to Stanley.
Pushed 7 miles across Ascension Island and then to the TOP of Green Mountain, Ascension (3,017ft).
Pushed 286 miles from the White House, Washington DC to ‘Ground Zero’, New York to raise funds for 9/11 just after the atrocity.

Swasie has also completed numerous other smaller pushes for local charities. He also pushed 210 miles from Wirral Town Hall, Wallasey to Buckingham Palace with congratulatory messages and cards from Mayors and Lord Mayors en-route for Her Majesty the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. The Lord and Lady Mayoress of Liverpool and the Mayor and Mayoress of Wirral, as well as local schoolchildren and Towns’ Mayors en-route gave him their congratulatory letters to hand in to the Palace on his arrival. The Lord Mayor of Liverpool and the Lady Mayor of Wirral saw him off on his epic journey on Monday 20th May 2002. The letters were duly delivered on his arrival at the Palace at 11-30am, Tuesday, 28th May 2002.

Swasie has also pushed 30 miles across Dartmoor in company with a group of Royal Marines on Thursday, June 27th 2002 and later went on to complete the Commandos’ endurance Course (for which he was awarded the coveted Green Beret’). On 25th October 2002, Swasie scaled Ben Nevis with his wheelchair, again in the company of the Royal Marines from Lympstone, Devon. His next feat of endurance with his trusty wheelchair, saw him push 70 miles across the inhospitable terrain of the West Falkland Island from Fox Bay to Port Howard to raise over £1,000 for a Falkland Islands charity.

After this he pushed his chair along the towpaths of the 127 mile Leeds to Liverpool Canal before then undertaking a formidable 108 mile push through the searing desert heat of the inhospitable Death Valley in Nevada. For this memorable achievement he was rewarded by the Governor of Nevada who presented him with a silver medal. Swasie also received the ultimate accolade when the Mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar B. Goodman, presented him with the freedom and the Key to the City of Las Vegas. The unforgetable push, in April 2003, raised over $2000 for the American Cancer Society.

Swasie pushed his chair along two canal towpaths from Glasgow to Edingburgh, a distance of 87 miles, when he raised £1,000 for the Fire Brigades’ National Benevolent Fund, another charity close to his heart.

On 25th September 2003 during the ‘European Year for Disabled People’, Swasie set off from Westminster Parliament, London, when he was seen off by Maria Eagle, the Minister for Disabled, and he then pushed his chair to the European Parliament in Brussels. This push raised funds for the disabled people of Europe as well as creating awareness of those who are physically handicapped.

In April 2004, Swasie successfully ascended, then descended the awesome and infamous ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ on the island of St Helena to raise funds for the Jamestown General Hospital on this remote and beautiful tropical island. ‘Lomaxmobility’ sent a new wheelchair from their factory in Dundee with Swasie as a gift to the hospital. .

On his return to the UK Swasie has since sent nearly £15,000 worth of medical equipment down to the island via his continual fund raising endeavours.

Following this, Swasie’s next endeavours were to complete a number of speed ‘marches’, which also included a 22 mile canoe paddle, (the extremely tough and physically demanding river Exe Descent) from Tiverton to Exeter with the Royal Marines from the RMTC at Lympstone, in Devon. Swasie is now the Patron of The Enable Me Project in Sussex. In April 2005 he pushed his wheelchair from Bognor Regis to Littlehampton and then on to Worthing. The push concluded with an illustrated talk to a number of ‘high profile’ dignitaries (including the Queen’s representative) to raise funds for this particular charity. In June, he pushed his chair from London to Brighton along the ‘Vintage Car’ route. This time for the Disabled Association and the Fire Services’ National Benevolent Fund.

Swasie has now pushed his wheelchair over 35,000 miles and has almost reached the magic £1,000,000 for his chosen charities.

Australian wheelchair push from Augusta to Perth (258 miles) which raised nearly $20,000 for the CANTEEN (Children with cancer) and POLICE LEGACY (police officers killed or maimed in the line of duty). The push took place in April/May 2008.

Swasie insists on using only a ‘Tempur’ Wheelchair cushion in his chair during his ongoing physically demanding and punishing regime.
It has ensured Swasie’s comfort throughout all his 35,000 miles of punishing endeavours worldwide, maintaining an exceedingly high standard without the cushion suffering any detriment to comfort and reliability.

His next Wheelchair push due to take place in July 2010 will be from Winchester to Eastbourne, the full length of the South Downs Way for Enable me

If you have never before heard Swasie Turner speak in public then you are missing a real treat. Compelling and often very moving stories (supported by slides and photographs from his laptop) are told to captivated audiences all over the land.

Publications:
‘Off the Cuff ’ and ’ If the Cap Fits’
Avid Publications

‘Onto the Final Leg’ , ‘Wheelchair Pilot’ and ‘A Cop on Rule 43’
Classfern

Main subject areas:
Overcoming Adversity - Motivation - Against all Odds The European Year of the Disabled

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