Driving Forwards with Sophie Morgan

Sophie Morgan is a prominent influencer and BAFTA-nominated TV presenter, best known for her role as a lead presenter for Channel 4's coverage of the Tokyo Summer Paralympics and as a regular panelist on ITV's Loose Women. A major disability advocate, Sophie's life changed dramatically after a severe car crash in 2003, which resulted in her losing mobility below the waist. Despite this, she has relentlessly pursued her dreams, defied the odds, and overcome monumental obstacles with exceptional willpower and grace. Through initiatives such as launching Rights on Flights, a global campaign promoting disability assistance in air travel, and serving on advisory boards for Human Rights Watch, Sophie has become a hero and a source of inspiration for countless people.

The twentieth anniversary of her accident crept up and Sophie decided that she wanted to mark the occasion. Inspired by the book Lone Rider: The First British Woman to Motorcycle Around the World, by Elspeth Beard, Sophie decided to plan her own epic voyage: driving across America on a Can-Am Spyder. Her best friend agreed to join in and the (three) wheels were in motion! Can-Am vehicles allow Sophie to do things she never thought she would be able to do after her accident, like exploring the world one road at a time.

I came out of hospital as a paraplegic when I was 18 years old. Everyone around me told me there were things I couldn’t do or places I couldn’t go. To try and combat that feeling, I’ve always tried to find alternative ways to overcome those barriers. That’s like gold dust, that’s what I seek, what helps me redefine what being disabled is. I looked and I looked, and I looked…And then I found Can-Am.

After a first night ride through Washington, D.C., she drove through Ohio, Kansas, Montana, Yellowstone National Park and countless iconic landmarks and places. However, torrential rains started pouring… halting the trip and forcing her off her planned seven hours of riding a day.

But Sophie’s a strong believer in the sun reappearing after cloudy days, and she was right. That’s when the trip got totally epic. She was joined by one of her best friends near Bend, they drove in beautiful conditions and even ended up paragliding across stunning views, above mountains and plains.

However, after being hit hard with the rain it was time to be hit hard with heat. The heat waves forced Sophie and her crew to make many rest stops and even stick bags filled with ice from gas stations between their clothes and jackets to keep cool. This is particularly difficult for Sophie given her condition, which involves metal rods implanted in her spine.

I’m not meant to be out in temperatures like that, my body cannot sustain it. A spinal cord injury, on a bike, in that exposure, in that heat, I should not have been doing it.

The trip ended on a high note in Yosemite Park, which offers the most stunning views and made Sophie have an epiphany about the beauty and grandeur of life. What a way to end such a trip!

I feel so lucky. I thought it would be a fun experience, I didn’t really think it would be such a transformative experience. All the way through, there’s been this feeling of extreme gratitude that I find really overwhelming.