A motorcycle adventurer has visited a primary school near Kidlington in the hope of inspiring future generations with her story.
Vanessa Ruck, known as 'The Girl on a Bike', discovered her passion for motorcycling after surviving a car accident that required years of recuperation and a reconstructed hip and shoulder.
She became the first British woman to finish the Africa Eco Race in January after covering 6,000 kilometres in 13 days.
She paid a visit to William Fletcher Primary School to inspire the youngsters.
She drove her Defender 90 into the playground, explaining to the pupils the modifications made to make it ready for her African adventure.
She said: "The squeals and excitement from the kids fills me with so much happiness and motivates me to keep going.
"My accident is the worst thing that has ever happened to me, but somehow it’s also quite possibly the best thing to happen to me for what it’s taught me and the new path in life it threw me into.
"I hope my story can bring energy to others.”
She shares her adventures across her social media channels and in free school visits.
She has spoken to more than 20,000 school children through her schools programme running under the hashtag ‘BecauseICan’.
She challenges students to come up with their own #BecauseICan goals.
She has collaborated with Oxfordshire business FCLG, whereby used business laptops were donated for educational use at the school.
Ms Ruck added: "Today’s youth face some of the most challenging times, especially post covid and for me the day I read the newspaper headline 'Covid generations lives are ruined' I knew I had to do something about it.
"Belief is everything and I hope my energy can give the minds of our future a little more energy and drive for life.
“I might not be changing the world, but I hope one session at a time, I can help inspire some of our future generations to set their sights on the stars. Anything is possible."
Headteacher Claire Martin said: "Vanessa’s visit was inspiring.
"The assembly was brilliantly motivating and linked to our own school values.
"Sharing your inspirational story and journey had a huge impact on the children, and made it very relatable to how students can use mindset to achieve goals.
"I just wanted to say a huge thank you for the time and energy that you gave to the students.
"Vanessa’s obvious enthusiasm for life and powerful messages connected with students and helped them to think about their own life goals and barriers to success."
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