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Man raises $30,000 for charity riding unicycle across US

"I wanted to give back to the organization, but as my personal motivation I picked the unicycle because somebody said that I couldn't."

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Video grab of Peter Frank during his unicycle trip across the USA. (Peter Frank via SWNS)

By Leo Black via SWNS

A man who had to learn to walk again after he broke his back in a car accident has raised $30,000 by riding across the United States -- on a UNICYCLE.

Peter Frank, 21, rode a hand-modified unicycle and covered 2,400 miles across eight states in just three-and-a-half months.

He set off on the mammoth journey, from Appleton, Wisconsin, to Phoenix, Arizona, to raise cash for Beacon House, the charity that helped him after his car accident.

Peter, an avid unicyclist from the age of 11, was hospitalized after a car ran him over when he was 14.

He shattered two of the vertebrae in his back in the accident and spent a month-and-a-half in hospital recovering from his injuries.

During this time, the charitable organization Beacon House allowed his family to stay at their facility near the hospital and visit him every day.

Peter, from Escanaba, Michigan, said: "Thanks to Beacon House my family was able to see me every day during my recovery, and that gave me a lot of strength.

"At that age, seeing my family every day during my recovery was the greatest blessing I had received thanks to the Beacon House.

"I chose to give back to them so they can continue to give others that blessing.

"The trip was very hard and uncomfortable, but I can feel myself exponentially growing through the hardships I endure.

"I wanted to give back to the organization, but as my personal motivation I picked the unicycle because somebody said that I couldn't.

"It was a symbolic victory against the odds, the fact that I had been able to recover."

Peter modified his unicycle for the trip, adding load bars to hold his luggage - and set off with only about $600 in his pocket.

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