A Chester entrepreneur and former Olympic hopeful shared her inspirational story with businesswomen in the borough.
Charlotte Roach’s dreams of becoming an Olympic champion were shattered during a bike ride with Team GB hopefuls back in 2009. Chester born Charlotte was in the triathlon team with her sights firmly set on the London 2012 Olympics.
“I was out with the team when my bike was clipped by another cyclist and I ended up in the path of a 4x4,” she explains. Charlotte’s back was broken in 12 places, she had broken her collar bone and both her lungs had collapsed.
“My coach thought I was winded, luckily the passing motorist who stopped was a physiotherapist, she knew I was in a serious condition as I was struggling for breath and started to gargle. She made the call to sit me up, I wouldn’t have made it if she hadn’t.”
Charlotte shared her inspirational story with the West Cheshire Women’s Network.
Founded in 2013 and co-hosted by Natwest, Ellis & Co chartered accountants and business advisers, West Cheshire & North Wales Chamber of Commerce and Cheshire West and Chester Council the group meets four times a year with a different guest speaker at every event and provides an opportunity for businesswomen to come together.
Charlotte spoke of how she had always been a sporting star and while at school was trained by Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes.
“As I was being flown to hospital by air ambulance I was still thinking about my training sessions and that run that I would be missing later that day,” she said.
“It only started to dawn on me about the seriousness of my condition when people started to visit me in hospital and they were crying.”
Charlotte was in intensive care for a week. Determined to stand and walk she left the hospital just two weeks later.
Six months after her accident she took part in an international triathlon and came fourth, a great achievement for many but Charlotte completed the event with her collar bone still broken.
“Training was ridiculous, half my back was still fixed with metal, my back couldn’t handle the training every day, so I could only train once a week,” she adds.
Her attention soon turned to the air ambulance which saved her life. She took on the mammoth task of cycling 16,000km from Beijing to the UK, crossing 16 different countries and raising £10,000.
Once back in the UK she soon found she started to dread exercise which led to her starting up her fun fitness project called ‘Rabble’. Four years later it is now held in 18 different locations in the UK designed to be a ‘social run around’ for adults.
Sessions are held in Vicars Cross every Tuesday at 7pm, to book and for further information just visit https://joinrabble.com.
“Charlotte is a true inspiration to us all,” said Carol Vella, senior economic development officer the borough council. It is unimaginable to believe that she is doing everyday tasks after her accident, never mind cycling 16,000km and starting up her own business.”
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The next network meeting will be held on Thursday, September 6 at The Holiday Inn Chester South at 9.30am with a selection of tea, coffees, pastries and cakes on offer on arrival.
The session is free but people should register at www.wcnwchamber.org.uk.
