Claire Danson

Many of you already know, but for those that don’t, Claire Danson had a horrendous cycling collision with a tractor at the end of August. She broke pretty much every bone above her belly button including ribs, arms, shoulders, jaw, neck, wrists, skull, punctured both lungs and critically, broke her back with a complete spinal sever at T9, paralysing her from there downwards. 

Claire is GB Triathlete and is the current reigning European champion at Olympic distance.  She has also won many races including her first half Ironman in Sardinia and her most recent 70.3 in Staffoldshire.  She was also on the brink of gaining her Pro Licence.  Claire has done all of this by funding herself through working as a tutor, teaching children science and maths. 

On the 28th August Claire was airlifted to Southampton spinal intensive care unit where she’s been recovering ever since. She has had multiple surgeries on her back, arms, shoulder and wrists all of which are healing nicely; however, she has been very poorly indeed. 

Claire, once well enough will be transferred to Salisbury Duke of Cornwall Spinal Unit where we are told she’ll spend 3-6 months learning everything there is regarding life in a wheel chair... knowing Claire, she’ll get the hang of things very quickly and be pushing to go onto the next part of her journey straight away. 

Whilst Claire was initially in and out of her induced coma and unable to talk or move, we communicated in very small periods by going through the alphabet, when we got to a letter that would eventually spell out a word, she would squeeze our hand. This was obviously a long process but the first word she spelt out was SORRY and second word was PARA-ATHLETE. Obviously, Claire has a long way to go before getting to this stage but very much sums up Claire’s ambition, resolve and determination, which has been nothing but inspiring and unbelievable. 

We have set up this GoFundMe in response to the overwhelming number of people who have been in touch wanting to know how to help and support Claire.  We hope to raise funds for Claire as well as awareness for why she is still with us today. Simply put, without her helmet, her fitness & strength, the air ambulance and Southampton’s incredible Neuro ICU, Claire wouldn’t be here today. The funds raised through this page will help Claire on her journey to achieve whatever she wishes.  It will support her rehabilitation and provide her with vital equipment and services required for her to fulfil her potential… maybe even buy her first race chair!

We will also be running events to support the charities & organisations involved with the fantastic care Claire's already received, and will continue to receive for months / years to come. 

The whole way through this journey any letter, card or message Claire has received has given her instant joy, energy and the biggest smile on her face... as always, peoples thoughts and time hold the highest value so please do leave a message alongside any pennies you wish to donate. It will be ingrained in Claire’s mind and serve as a constant reminder that anything she is able to purchase from your contributions is a direct gift from her friends, family and wider support network. 

Thank you for coming on this journey and being a part of Team Claire.