Please help me walk again and achieve a dream for 2025

Hi, my name in Mark and I'm a long time enthusiast of all things automotive. In fact, for as long as I can remember I've loved things with engines. Even the very first curtains I had in my childhood bedroom had the various badges from car manufacturers on! At 16 my first moped was a Yamaha and I was obsessed with Yamaha for the next few years, till I was old enough for a car. After that I had a Mini, which I kept going despite terminal rust. Aged about 21 or 22 I bought my first German car, in the shape of a bright green BMW 1502 that cost me £275! I absolutely loved that car and I just obsessed about the thing for years after. In fact, this is the first time in over 30 years that I've not owned an old BMW of one sort or another. However, it's almost 20 years ago today that I nearly lost my life in a car crash that saw me break my neck twice, my back twice, smash my pelvis and left femur. I also severed a blood vessel in my groin and very nearly lost my life. I spent 10 months in hospital and was eventually discharged with life changing injuries.

I was living in Bristol (for a short time) and then Kent, which made life and working much easier than now, as I live in rural Cornwall but I was getting used to life in a wheelchair. Despite this I still had dreams that I wanted to achieve and I wanted to give something back to the Cornwall Air Ambulance that had saved my life! First though, I wanted to drive again. Also, getting into an old BMW was far far cheaper than they are today. I didn't have much in the way of savings but it wasn't too long before I was bitten by the desire to build a track BMW and compete in speed events. I was able to buy and sell parts and the momentum just seemed to carry me forward with my health improving and my being able to leave the memories of my accident in the past. Eventually, I was able to realise a dream that I'd had since the age of around 20 and by what I had always seen as the ultimate BMW, an E30 M3! More than that though, with the help of some really kind people (such as Mick at Pristine BMW, Joe at ARM BMW and Neil at Rally Prep!) I was able to compete in E21, E30 and eventually an E30 M3! I had many moments where I needed to pinch myself and realise how lucky I'd got. All through this I was able to write about my exploits in Performance BMW Magazine, thanks in no small part to Elizabeth de Latour. Hopefully many of you reading this also enjoyed the blogs I wrote in PBMW over the years?

Anyway, unfortunately things took a downward turn around 7 or so years ago when my health began to take a downward turn. Several bouts of Cellulitis and also Sepsis meant that I was simply unable to work and the cars simply had to be sold to pay things like rent. Opportunities to write diminished along with magazines and I simply no longer had the opportunities that I had to help fund my hobby. I was really lucky to be asked to make a short film about my passion for all things BMW and especially the iconic BMW E30 M3 for the YouTube channel Petrolicious. Filming took place here in Cornwall over a couple of days and included footage from my favourite car show Retro Rides at Shelsey Walsh hillclimb track. Watching the film 1991 BMW M3: Homologation Evolution on YouTube is bitter sweet really. It takes me back 6 years or so, when my life and my health were much better, but it also reminds me of what I've lost. Now I know I'll never have another M3 but that's not what I would like nowadays. 1991 BMW M3 Homologation Evolution

My goal is to have another BMW E30 and to be a part of both the E30 and the BMW community again. I want to use owning an E30 again to motivate me and help me find the strength to not be defined by my health. As corny as it might seem, I want to be able to look forward to attending events having worked on my E30 and made it my own. I would love to be able to do some of the things I did before, such as raising donation for the Cornwall Air Ambulance. So ultimately, my goal is to have another E30 BMW and drive at the August 2025 Retro Rides event at Prescott Hill, that's eight months from now!

So as things are today, I am laid here in a hospital bed again, 20 years since the crash that started all this. I feel like this is my last opportunity to turn things around but I need the help to do so. I've never done anything like this before but I'm asking for your help. That's why I'm sat here at 2:40am in a hospital bed just hoping that maybe there's the help that I need out there? I really want to be a part of the E30 Zone again and I hope that you will help me achieve some of the goals I'm setting myself. Yesterday I managed to put both feet on the floor next to my bed and stand up. A relatively small step maybe, but a big one as far as I'm concerned and one that I think will mean I'll be able to push a clutch pedal and a throttle. I remember having similar thoughts 20 years ago too! I achieved it then and I'll achieve it now! Every day I need to set myself achievable goals! Last week I couldn't stand but today I can. Tomorrow I hope to stand for longer and eventually take a step! I did this once and I'll do it again! Next August I'll be driving Prescott Hill in an E30 and collecting donations for the Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust! Anyway, I hope that you'll help me. Mark