DAVID ROBERTSON - SOME HISTORY AND PAST NEWS

.

David Robertson was born in England 1958. At the age of 18 lost his right arm and right leg in a motorcycle accident along the Acle Straight in Norfolk. After the accident he’s life became a major challenge, as he had to learn to walk, to write and drive a car.

At the age of 27 David left the UK to travel through Asia, Australasia and North America. He hitched hiked most of the way across the continents. A year after his return he started a new challenge, to drive from London to Cape Town, South Africa. Without back up or any communication systems let alone a navigation system. Crossing the Sahara desert was a challenge in itself. David drove across the centre of the Sahara with temperatures were so high, the thermometer exploded, as did a rear tyre. Shortly after David got lost when the track he followed faded away into dust. He later learned a German vehicle lost in the same aria was found with all occupants dead.

The roads became worse in the Congo region David could only manage to drive 3 miles a day, as he was constantly stuck in mud and he had to repair bridges, buy fuel on the black market and deal with the corrupt police. The only food was bananas, pineapple and sardines. It took him five weeks to drive through Zaire. When he finally arrived in Mombassa, Kenya, David suffered from with high fever, shivers and severe headaches. He took the next flight to the UK where he was diagnosed with cerebral malaria. After 5 weeks he was back on the road to drive through Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and into South Africa.

In 1998 David Robertson started his toughest challenge; to fight for the children of Africa. David began to drive through all 53 African countries to highlight malaria and help bring world-wide attention to the biggest killer of young children.