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About: Joey Evans
Joey Evans has completed several marathons and ultra-marathons, hiked the fish river canyon and otter trail, finished the Roof of Africa enduro, raced in the Botswana desert 1000 and the only South African biker to complete the 2017 Dakar Rally.
Joey Evans has ridden his dirt bike throughout South Africa as well as Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia, Morocco, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay & Lebanon.
Despite suffering a devastating motor crash that left him paralysed and nearly crushed his dreams of competing in the Dakar rally, South African motorcyclist Joey Evans has completed the 2017 edition of the grueling race.
Evans has always wanted to compete as a Dakar Rally: “I dreamed of racing in the Dakar rally after watching it on TV and made it my goal to compete one day. I went on to race a number of races both regional and national in 2006 and 2007.” Overcoming the struggles The SA racer broke his T8 and T9 vertebrae an crushed his spinal cord that left him completely paralysed from the chest down.
Physiotherapist Sharné Bailey, who has worked with Evans since two years after his accident said his true heroism came from his persistence during rehabilitation with physiotherapists like herself and Melanie Harding from the South African Society of Physiotherapy. After a neurosurgeon fused the two vertebrae, it increased the chances of Evans walking again to only 10%.
Bailey said: “A 10% chance was all a guy like Joey needed. And once he was up on his feet, it was inevitable that he would want to get back on a bike. And that he’d start dreaming Dakar dreams again.
Biking was his life, he had that fire in him.” Just a 10% chance About five years ago Evans, with the help of his physiotherapists, starting working on getting him ready for the Dakar. Harding said: “He told me that any competitor only has a 30% chance of finishing the Dakar, so he reckoned he had maybe a 10% chance – and that was enough for him. I am so proud of him – it’s an amazing, amazing achievement.” Doctors said I had a 10% chance to walk again
His story is a must hear for true motivation against all odds and achieving your goal
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But his dream, along with the rest of his life, was completely shattered in 2007, when during a local race in South Africa he was hit by another biker and amongst other serious injuries he broke his back, crushing his spinal cord leaving him completely paralyzed from just below his chest.
The prognosis was he would never walk or feel his legs again.
Joey suddenly facing a daily struggle of keeping it together both physically and mentally made a decision, that he would not only still live a full life, but he would still chase his dream of racing the Dakar Rally.
The finish line of that race became the symbol of him beating his injury.
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