Ultra-marathon runner Nick Ashill is just about to resume an epic run across America, five years after he was seriously injured in a hit and run accident.
After 16 surgeries, relearning how to walk and then run, the New Zealander has left for the US again and on 30 May begins the final 922km of his journey, over a period of 18 days.
Along the way, he is raising funds for the New Zealand Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ and the UK-based Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) Trust.
Nick gets back to road training after his hit and run in the USA. Photo: supplied
Ashill tells Kathryn Ryan he’s buzzing with excitement for the run and to see the team of medical experts, who helped him recover, who will join him on the first day.
“I'm really excited about catching up with all of those people at the same time and many of them don't know each other so I'm sure it's going to be a very, very emotional first day.
“[It has been] a rollercoaster of emotions the last four-and-a-half years; from anger, resentment, guilt, shame, but the self-belief was really always there.
“I'm very fortunate to have a second opportunity to actually go back and finish something that I started in 2017, and that's largely the result of my wife who saved my life and the surgeons who saved my life. I'm very blessed and very lucky.”
He didn’t think his body could handle restarting the whole mission over again, so he will be picking up from where he was hit - about 55 kilometres west of Ohio’s capital, Columbus – and head towards the finish line at Coney Island in New York.
“My pelvis was put back together, and my right leg was put back together and as a result I don't have the same flexibility on my right side,” Ashill says.
“My running gait has changed, it’s shortened, I don't have the speed that I did back in 2017 but I've been able to pick up some really long distances again, and a huge milestone for me was running 100 miles for the Asthma Respiratory Foundation in September last year.”
Nick with his wife Sarah, while in hospital following the hit and run Photo: supplied
He has since revisited the site of the accident but he’s not sure how he will react this time.
“It might be a gentle glance, I might stop, I might smile, I might have some colourful words, I really don't know how I'm gonna react, it will be in the moment, but I'm sure there will be a few people watching that. Or I might just totally ignore it and run past it.”
When he was 4000km into the journey in 2017, he was hit by a pick-up truck travelling alone on the road at 50mph.
Just before impact, he made a split-second decision to jump over the metal railing he was running alongside of, he says.
“I'm glad that I did, otherwise I would have been hit head on and I don't think I'd be talking here right now. But as a result of that I got slammed on my right-hand side and then I was thrown into the ditch.”
Nick pictured with the organisations he is supporting for the run Photo: supplied
At the time, he had his ear buds on and was speaking with his wife, who had a nursing background and was able to keep him conscious for a while until the phone died.
“It was Sarah but also my two daughters as well that heard this and heard my screams, which was horrible, absolutely horrible for those guys.
“She alerted state troopers and the support crew and I was found I believe, from what I'm told, around 50 or so minutes later.”
Although he initially underestimated the time it would take to recover, he says he always believed he would be able to get back on his feet again.
“I’m a very stubborn individual, and once I latch onto something and really believe in something, I won't let it go. And I've always said that if I have to crawl 1200 kilometres, I will crawl. Fortunately, I'm not going to be doing that.
Nick with his mum, who passed away from the respiratory disease IPF in 2015 Photo: supplied
“I started in a gym on crutches. That's how weak my body was and [after] a couple of months on your back, there's massive amounts of muscle wastage, which happens very, very quickly.
“So going back to basics and working with a personal trainer was a real foundation block in making this return happen and that recovery in a gym took … three years, so it's a long time.”
After his late mother’s battle with pulmonary fibrosis (PF), he decided to use this run as an opportunity to raise awareness and funds for a UK charity that was supporting her.
“What's been really nice about this return run is that I've now connected with the Asthma Respiratory Foundation here in New Zealand … I've also linked up with [a PF charity in New Zealand] to raise further awareness and hopefully raise some funds to support individuals in New Zealand living with PF as well.”
So far, he's raised $3465 out of his $10,000 goal.
