As some of you may know, sadly, in 2010 our nephew Matt and his partner Anna lost their first child George who died suddenly, having seemingly been a healthy 17 month old little boy. The cause of his death was never fully understood. He woke one Saturday, seemingly as normal, but at some point that afternoon, he was overwhelmed by something which attacked his heart and he died very suddenly.

Matt and Anna, and indeed the whole family were devastated by their loss.  Already pregnant with their second child, James was born and was seemingly a healthy little boy.  However, at six months, James was rushed to intensive care at Great Ormond Street Hospital where he was diagnosed to be suffering from a rare heart disorder, dilated cardiomyopathy (possibly the cause of George's death?).

 
James is now 9 months old and has spent much of the last few months at Great Ormond Street.  He is a real little fighter and Andy and I have taken it upon ourselves to try and raise money for the British Heart Foundation’s Mending Broken Hearts research project.  We are planning to cycle from Lands End to John O’Groats, a journey of approximately 1,000 miles.  Starting on 19 May, along with 5 friends, we are hoping to complete the ride in 11 days.  Not in the first flush of youth, as you can imagine this is a serious challenge and one we hope you will consider worthy of your support.

 

Great advances are being made so maybe our effort could go a small way to helping James and others like him and preventing other parents from going through the pain and anguish that Matt and Anna suffer.

 
Please follow our progress at http://end2end10.tumblr.com/

 

Thank you again for your generous support.