No one was left untouched by the story of Grant Lottering − the South African cyclist who suffered horrendous injuries in a race in the Alps and went back one year later to finish that same cycle race.
Lottering told his uplifting story to guests at the yearly Aand van die Sterre, the annual fundraising event for the Martie du Plessis School on Thursday, 18 September.It started out as a dream to ride in the Alps. Ex-professional cyclist Lottering arrived in Italy at the age of 45, as fit as he had ever been, ready to do a 140km tour in Italy.
On 4 July 2013, going down a hill at speeds of 66km/h, he crashed into a rockface, sustaining terrible injuries with his heart stopping and needing emergency surgery on the scene.
He was airlifted to hospital with 22 broken bones including a fractured shoulder, 12 broken ribs and a broken femur.The doctors said he would never be able to ride again.He spent eight days in hospital before flying back to South Africa where months of recuperation awaited him.
Back at home his life journey started to take a whole new route. First he was set on finishing the race in which he crashed. “I needed closure. I wanted to go back and finish that race. What I wanted was so far removed from reality. For starters, my shoulder had to be reconstructed.”
After eight surgeries in his shoulder, Lottering went back to Italy and finished the race, enduring pain, but happy about this feat.
This is where his story of endurance and raising millions for underprivileged children started inspiring audiences in over 13 countries.What should have been the end of a sport he loved, turned into a mission.”I have this gift to ride a bike, and I wanted to use it. I knew I had a bigger purpose.”Since 2015 he has been doing his Im’possible Tours − driving up mountains and recently also including trail running in his missions to raise funds.
This year he spent three days cycling and trail running at Signal Hill in Cape Town − Lottering navigated 107km of rough terrain in the Table Mountain National Park after doing a 20-hour cycling marathon, riding up and down Chapman’s Peak Drive 36 times.
On Thursday at Martie du Plessis, Lottering said the stories he heard about learners of this Bloemfontein school inspired him to do something for them.
Keeping with the theme for the evening of Silver Lining, funds raised during the 2024 Aand van die Sterre helped Martie du Plessis redo its astro hockey field and buying 45 computers for the school’s exam rooms.
Francois van Heerden, principle, said this year they aim to once again use technology to improve the lives of those learners battling to read fast. They are planning to buy 30 reading aids worth R6 000 each. “This will have a huge impact improving the speed at which these children read and help them to read with comprehension. “We need R180 000 to make this dream for our school come true,” Van Heerden said.
Jennifer Zamudio ended the evening with a show for a gathering that will not be easily forgotten.
