A London man with cerebral palsy is cycling around Ireland on a bicycle modified to fit with his needs.
Jack Thompson began an initial 13-day journey from London to Liverpool on April 26, which saw him cover 284 miles in 12 separate rides.
Earlier this week he boarded a ferry to Belfast to realise his goal of cycling across Ireland.
Mr Thompson, who has suffered from cerebral palsy since birth, began cycling around five years ago as a way to get around in spite of his disability.
“It’s taken me five years of progression to get to this stage,” Mr Thompson told Ballymena native Sherman Wright in a video, which has now gone viral on Facebook.
“I originally started cycling because it was easier for me to cycle to the shops than walk to the shops.”
Last year, Mr Thompson cycled hundreds of miles from the Netherlands, through Germany and down into Austria.
He said he had just arrived in Ireland and he was expecting his route to get "a lot more hilly" in the next few days.
Asked about his first impressions of the Emerald Isle, Mr Thompson said: "It's wonderful and the people are lovely, they're really friendly."
Wright said he was moved by Mr Thompson’s heroics because his nephew Darren had also been born with cerebral palsy.
Asked how he manages such long distances on his tricycle, Mr Thompson said: "I'm good with dealing with the pain, it allows you to go on forever.
"I would like to get sponsored to do longer cycles. I would like to take the whole year and do big distances. So more support would be really good.”
Check out Jack's inspirational story below...
Today I met a true legend in this life. Jack Thompson cerebral paulsy sufferer and bike riding extraordinaire. .. unreal story.
Posted by Sherman Wright on Monday, May 15, 2017
