As most of you know, we entered the Bridge to Brisbane at the beginning of the month, and had a great day out with family and friends raising money for the Amputee and Family Support Group. We raised a total of $12,195 – thank you to everyone who donated, who walked with us on the day, and who helped make the day really special.
Here’s a photo of the ‘crowd’ at the start line.
and Diane at the start, smiling as usual.
We managed to keep up with Matthew for much of the way…
…but he can really hoof it in his chair. At one point, Matthew and Diane met up with Jessica Wright, who was raising money for neurofibromatosis and James Fitzgerald, who was raising funds for KidsHelpline. 
We also ran into fellow amputee Korrin Barrett along the way – she managed to walk most of the five kilometre journey, which was amazing!
As we got close to the finish line, it was time to see if Matthew could actually walk on his training legs.
He has never walked in them outside rehab, so we had no idea how it would go. The amazing Jacqui O’Sullivan (physiotherapist) and Dr Saul Geffen (rehabilitation specialist) were there for support.
It’s quite painful to stand for Matthew, so it always amazes us that you can rarely tell. Is it a smile or is it a grimace? He would say smile…
Will and Maeve took control of the chair to make sure it got home safely.
As we got to the finish line, Matthew, Jacqui and Saul were joined by Korrin and her partner Craig.
It took Matthew a while to get to the finish, as expected, and in the meantime, the crowd built…
…and it was pretty hard to get close to Matt. That was OK because there weren’t too many people with a dry eye and it gave us time to compose ourselves.
The photo below is my favourite from the day.
It’s Matthew, supported by Saul and Jacqui who have been with him (us) from the start, raising money for a group who has supported him (us) from the start, giving something a go.
The publicity surrounding Matthew doing the event attracted the Queensland Government’s attention to policy and funding for organisations that rely on volunteers. It may ultimately amount to something more than funds, and that’s important. We’ll keep you posted on any updates.
Until next year!
[All photos by Kate Ames]
renovatingmatthew.com 
Fabulous post! Matthew and his entire family are an inspiration! Also that’s he best news that the Government is reviewing charity funding – something that is so desperately needed. Fantastic work!
Fantastic!