Businessman runs half-marathon just months after life-threatening motorsport crash

RACING IN STYLE: Paul Waine behind the wheel. Picture by DR Photography

By Simon Bristow

An East Yorkshire businessman has defied the odds to don his running shoes after recovering from a serious accident.

Paul Waine, 60, who lives at Foston on the Wolds, sustained life-threatening injuries at a motorsport event earlier this year, but has completed the 2022 Great North Run to raise money for the charities that helped him.

He crashed in the A.F.P. Fane Trophy for pre-war Frazer Nash cars at a Goodwood Members’ Meeting on April 10 and was airlifted to Southampton Hospital.

Paul, who has been involved in waste oil regeneration for much of his career, suffered severe crush injuries and subsequently had his spleen removed, and his sternum and ribcage rebuilt in a long and risky operation.

After recovering at his home since late May, he ran the half marathon route on September 11 with ‘medical’ friends to generate funds for the Goodwood Revival charity for 2022, the Aldingbourne Trust, along with the Air Ambulance Kent Surry Sussex charity, KSS.

Dubbed “Team Tortoise”, the East Yorkshire group comprised Paul’s son Henry, Mark Eggleston - Mark’s daughters Lucy Eggleston, a physiotherapist, and Millie Eggleston, a doctor - Mark’s brother Richard Eggleston, and physiotherapist Sam Havler.

The all finished the race in times ranging between two and three hours, with Paul coming in at in two hours, 53 minutes.

Paul said he wanted to publicly thank the Goodwood and air ambulance staff for their assistance. “The organisers at Goodwood helped my family so much in the days after the accident, offering both emotional and practical support, and without the air ambulance I most probably wouldn’t be here today,” he said.

Paul’s Frazer Nash 1935 TT Rep had no roll-cage or seatbelts, and he was thrown from the vehicle during the race, which then rolled several times before landing on him.

Team Tortoise has a fundraising target of £5,000 and those wishing to make a donation can visit the dedicated Just Giving page for KSS, or Aldingbourne Trust’s website here.

Paul is no stranger to adversity. After contracting Guillain Barré Syndrome in 2008 – a rare illness affecting the peripheral nerves – he was in hospital for 14 weeks and temporarily paralysed. He has been raising money for the Guillain Barré charity GAIN ever since, with this year’s Great North Run being an exception.