A CHARITY runner completed a gruelling 80-mile charity run only to be seriously hurt in a traffic accident the following day.

Gareth Chapman, 35, ran from Keighley to Barrow-in-Furness in only 12 and a half hours.

But the next day he was injured when his motorbike was involved in a collision with a car in Station Road, Steeton.

His partner Donna Thompson, 39, said he broke four toes, needed to have one toe amputated, cracked two vertebrae, and suffered muscle damage in his lower back.

Mr Chapman, who is a former Cumbria County fell running champion, is recovering at home off Fell Lane, Keighley.

Mrs Thompson said: "When you're out of luck, you're really out of luck.

"The accident happened when Gareth was going to meet some friends to celebrate the fact that he'd finished the challenge.

"He flew 40 yards down the road and his motorbike was written off. I think the only thing that saved him was his leathers and his helmet. His friend took him to hospital in his car.

"Gareth is back home now but he's on painkillers. He's just so determined and he's said this is not going to stop him from doing further runs for charity."

Mr Chapman was originally intending to run and walk non-stop from Keighley to the small town of Millom in Cumbria.

He had initially wanted to raise money for a Cumbria-based family, whose mother died suddenly of a heart condition in August leaving behind her husband and five children.

However, the intended beneficiary of the fundraising has since been changed to Brooklands Community Special School, in Skipton, which educates young people with learning difficulties.

Mrs Thompson said he set off on the 80-mile route shortly before 3am on September 30, finishing at 3.30pm that day at the Travel Lodge in Barrow-in-Furness.

She said: "The actual run went fantastically, even though Gareth was absolutely exhausted when he finished.

"He'd been hoping to finish in 18 hours so he completely smashed his target. I was so shocked.

"He stopped for about five minutes in Kirkby Lonsdale for a drink and a different pair of trainers but apart from that he just kept going. He was phenomenal.

"It was pouring down in the early hours of the morning, so he got drenched, but the weather did get a bit better after 7am."

People can visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Penrith-Fundraising-1 to continue to donate towards Mr Chapman's fundraising effort.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police confirmed officers were investigating the crash in which Mr Chapman was injured which involved three vehicles – including a red Honda motorbike and a grey Toyota Avensis, in Station Road, near the junction with Steeton Grove, shortly before 9.30pm on October 1.

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