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 You are in: Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs > Bureau of Public Affairs > Bureau of Public Affairs: Press Relations Office > Press Releases (Other) > 2007 > May 
Media Note
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
May 31, 2007


Amputee Bicyclist to Cross United States and Circle World to Support Landmine Survivors and Other Amputees

Daniel Sheret poses near the U.S. Capitol with the bicycle that he is using for his Ability Trek 2007 tour across the United States, from Washington, DC to San Francisco, California. [Photo courtesy of John Stevens, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, U.S. Dept. of State] Daniel Sheret, an endurance bicyclist who lost his lower right leg in an accident, will pedal across the United States and around the world to raise funds for amputees who have lost limbs due to persistent landmines and other mishaps, and to raise public awareness of the global landmine problem.

Sheret's ride is supported in part by the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement (www.state.gov/t/pm/wra) in the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, which manages the clearance of landmines and explosive remnants of war such as unexploded cluster munitions, assistance to mine survivors, mine risk education, and preventing small arms/light weapons and man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) from being obtained by criminals and terrorists. As part of its survivors assistance efforts, this Office is funding training and the provision of equipment to the Basra, Iraq Prosthetic Center.

Funds raised by Sheret's "Ability Trek 2007" ride will benefit Clear Path International (www.cpi.org/index.php), a non-governmental organization that assists survivors of landmines and explosive remnants of war in Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Thailand-Burma border. His ride will also benefit the Basra, Iraq Prosthetic Center's capacity to treat Iraqi amputees in Iraq's southern region.

"Ability Trek 2007" begins 10:00 a.m. Friday, June 1 in Washington D.C. near the U.S. Capitol and then proceeds through Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, arriving in San Francisco, California, 66 days later.

Afterward, Sheret will bicycle through Southeast Asia. He will visit a Clear Path International mine survivors assistance project in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam, which is also funded in part by the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement. His epic tour will include Jordan, Turkey, the Balkans, the Czech Republic, and Western Europe, and conclude back in the United States in 2008.

To learn more about Daniel Sheret's "Ability Trek 2007" and to follow his daily blog, visit www.abilitytrek.org/.


2007/428

Released on May 31, 2007

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