DOCUMENT

Hea dlines 11 David Savage was born in the United Kingdom and then moved to New Zealand in 2003. He’s a leadership and collaboration coach and trainer, using brain-based methodologies such as neuroleadership and neurolinguistics. He lives with his wife Megan, also a coach, and three children on five acres in the Wairarapa. In 2014 he was misdiagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) which first introduced him to the Neurological Foundation’s website to find out more information. It was not until a doctor noticed David’s lack of deterioration with his ALS prognosis that they went looking for another explanation. MMN is a rare disorder that focuses on areas of multiple motor nerves which are attacked by the individual’s own immune system. For David, completing Tour Aotearoa was a challenge for both his body and mind. "Some people with MMN end up with walking sticks or in a wheelchair. Spoked Tour Aotearoa Imagine hopping on your bike and riding from Cape Reinga to Bluff in the span of 31 days. Already tired just thinking about it? Well, Greytown residents David Savage, Mike Smith and Pete Sutherland did it in March and raised over $10,000 for the advancement of neurological research. Naming their crew Spoked they challenged themselves to this bike ride of 100KM per day! For David, who lives with Multifocal Motor Neuropathy (MMN), the challenge was particularly important to complete given the increasing atrophy in parts of his body. I've already lost two-thirds of the strength in my right hand and my right leg has a subtle limp-thing going on at times ... and so a physical challenge like the Tour Aotearoa is huge, but one that is hugely motivating - It's focusing me on what I can do now, not what I may lose in the future.” Only 1 person per 100,000 people is affected by MMN globally, so Thank you to David, Mike and Pete, and the entire Spoked Tour crew that biked over 3,000 Km through the sun, rain and wind, to raise awareness of neurological conditions and the importance of research to find cures, treatments, and breakthroughs. As David said when asked what he hoped the people reading this article would take away, “one in five people suffer from a neurological condition, which means at some stage in life we all get impacted by it, and so let’s get behind the research that can make a difference.” information about the disease and research are limited, which is another reason David, Mike and Pete decided to donate what they raised directly to the Neurological Foundation with support from friends, family, colleagues, and the local community. “We need more research in New Zealand on conditions like these, so that is why we raised money for the Neurological Foundation."