PEOPLE: I'll cross Oz in my electric wheelchair
Spike turns drunken dare into world record attempt
A daring world record attempt by comedian Spike Breakwell to become the first person to cross Australia in an electric wheelchair is no joke.
The disabled comedian, writer and actor is planning an amazing feat... to travel by electric wheelchair from Perth to Sydney.
That's a distance spanning a tough 2,600 miles or so, and he aims to raise charity cash at the same time, for Barnardo's in the UK and Australia.
Now the 37-year-old Dunstablian is looking for sponsors, including local businesses, who are willing to help raise about 32,000 towards the costs of the adventure.
He said: "People say: 'You are going to do what? Are you mad?' and I say: 'Of course I am, you don't get sane people doing this!' But if it helps someone somewhere, it will be worth it."
And he joked: "It was a drunken dare with one of my mates, between me and the Australian actor Johnno Taylor, and if I die, it's his fault!"
Talks are going on about ideas to televise the world record attempt, which should start in September and end in December.
Businesses who back Spike could have their names prominently featured in various ways, for example on T-shirts, expedition vehicles or expedition flags.
Spike said: "It would be a great advert for any company, with the possibility of getting their name on TV on two continents."
Spike is heading off soon to Oz to plan the trip, and anyone who would like to know more about the adventure, and pledge a donation, can chat to him at a get-together in the Highwayman Hotel, Dunstable, from about 7pm on Saturday night.
He'll be making his world record attempt with an eight-man team, accompanied by two seven-and-a-half-tonne supply vehicles and a jeep or motorbike.
And he reflected: "Not only is it a charitable adventure – if we make it, it will be the first time it has ever been done successfully."
Among his team will be friend Johnno Taylor, who at one time worked in Dunstable's Old Sugar Loaf and the Winston Churchill pub.
Spike said: "I am going to be staring at the back of a lorry for about three months.
"Johnno said he will lean out of the back of the truck and read all the works of Shakespeare to me!"
Check out www.wheelabout.org.uk to find out more about Spike's daredevil plans.
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Thursday 17 May 2012
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