Image source, Taylor Owen
To reach his new goal, Taylor would have to hit the tyre every three seconds solidly for 24 hours
An “adventure athlete” will try to hit a tyre with a sledgehammer 30,000 times in one day to raise awareness of his partner’s neurological condition.
Taylor Owen Mason hopes to set an unofficial world record on Saturday, and would need to hit the tyre every three seconds for 24 hours to succeed.
He hopes it will raise awareness for functional neurological disorder (FND).
His partner Katie Roberts experiences stroke-like systems such as seizures, chronic pain and fatigue.
“When I met Katie she told me she had FND, I’d never heard of it before and I didn’t really understand,” said Taylor, who calls himself an adventure athlete.
“She always says: ‘It’s like my brain is a computer, and the software is out of date’.
“One night we had to go to A&E, and they didn’t really know what to do with her when we got there. I had to sit on the floor and wrap my legs around her head and make sure she was okay.
“I felt powerless, like I couldn’t do anything but sit there and watch my partner struggle.”
Image source, Taylor Owen
Katie was diagnosed a year ago but suspects she has had FND for much longer than that
Taylor, from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, said Katie was diagnosed just over a year ago, but had been experiencing seizures for three years and other symptoms for much longer.
“It makes every day really hard for her, she has got such a fire and energy and drive, and gets knocked down every day, but still gets up every day and she inspires me every day,” he said.
Taylor said he set the original unofficial record for the task in 2021, hitting a tyre 28,000 times in 16-and-a-half hours. But he wants to beat that.
Image source, Taylor Owen
Taylor Owen says his old trousers show how much weight he has lost since he was a teenager
To reach his new goal, he would have to hit the tyre every three seconds solidly for 24 hours.
“I had a moment of clarity and decided to take up my sledgehammer, I’m going to best my old number so I can raise awareness for this condition, and maybe from some ripple in the ocean type of effect it might help us and help Katie,” he said.
“My hands were swollen after it, I couldn’t put a T-shirt on on my own for about a week.
“For me it’s not about my involvement, it’s about what I can do to make more people aware of FND, maybe someone who has the symptoms might find out they have the condition, and I really want to try and break down the stigma around it at the same time.”
Image source, Taylor Owen
Taylor, pictured aged 16, says he suffered with obesity and mental health issues
There is a world record for the most times a tyre is hit in a minute, but not a day.
Guinness World Records said: “We don’t currently monitor a longer version of this record, but it is possible for new record titles to be created.”
Taylor said he decided against paying for a Guinness World Records adjudicator because of the cost.
“But I’m looking at 100 hits every two minutes, that’s the steady pace I need to be hitting, it’s definitely more ambitious than most stuff I’ve done before,” he said.
“I’ve been on a journey of my own, I grew up morbidly obese, at 16 I used to be 18 stone (252lbs), and had my own mental health issues, but over years of hard work I’ve managed get myself to a better place.
“Now I want to try and challenge myself in new ways, and be able to take what I’ve learned and what’s helped me, and try to give back to the world, make it a better place for me and for Katie and for others like her.”
Laura Adams is a tech enthusiast residing in the UK. Her articles cover the latest technological innovations, from AI to consumer gadgets, providing readers with a glimpse into the future of technology.
