Racing4MS charity bikes
10-10-09 by Mark M
How would you feel if your life partner was diagnosed with a bad disease that could only get worse? It happened to Mark Whitfield – in the prime of her life, Multiple Sclerosis (MS) struck his wife Sarah-Jane. But instead of retreating from life, they decided to fulfil their dreams at full speed. “I used to say ‘You can go racing the day I die’,” says Sarah-Jane, “but then I stupidly bought him a Ducati 996 for his birthday!”
Mark did a couple of track days, and was bitten by the bug. Realising the 996 was more immediately capable than he was; he soon bought a share in a track bike, then 3 months later he committed to his own.
Sarah-Jane’s symptoms were becoming increasingly apparent, and the couple decided it was time to live life while they had the chance – they kitted-out the Ducati 800S and started Racing4MS in the 2005 National BEARS [British European American Racing Series].
“The first time I raced, a good friend cheekily joked that he was ‘so sorry that Sarah-Jane had obviously died’,” laughs Mark.
“Despite Sarah-Jane’s concerns, I soon discovered that racing was much safer than road riding or track days – because of the higher levels of preparation, safety, and professionalism.”
By 2006, the MS had scarred Sarah-Jane’s nervous system to the point where she could no longer work. She had a severe fall, smashing her head on the ground; “I woke-up in Accident and Emergency at Royal North Shore Hospital. I looked around and there were all these guys with zips running down the back of their heads – and I just thought ‘No-no, this is not for me’!”
Thankfully, Sarah-Jane escaped the zip-up head, but it flagged the beginning of the end for Mark’s racing career. He finished second in the 2006 Formula 3 BEARS, having had to miss a round;
“Towards the end I was starting to actually think race tactics – you know you’re advancing when you can disconnect yourself from your riding when doing race speeds.”
Though they still had a modest home and some savings, Mark had to stop work to care full-time for Sarah-Jane. Notwithstanding having raised several thousand dollars for the MS Society amongst their activities, Racing4MS looked to have a very limited future. No longer able to race and crew, their focus shifted outward.
“A friend of ours who also had MS, David Tynan, told us he had always dreamed of racing bikes. So we put things in place to help make it come true,” says Mark. “David was totally stoked, and we realised that there were thousands of other MS sufferers who were leaving life-long passions unfulfilled.”
“We’re trying to address the lives of the living, whereas the conventional approach is to focus on the day to day struggle – it’s about building on hopes and aspirations of success, and about giving people the once in a lifetime chance to do what someone else might do every day.”
Recently, Racing4MS helped fulfil the dream of a joy-flight in a www.racing4ms.org. During the day one of the guests remarked that they had been driving past Bankstown Airport their whole life, wondering what it would be like to fly – and now they know!
Pages: 1 2
