Story
Hi All
this is just a quick note to let you know that on the 12th of June, i will be starting an epic ride from John O'Groats to Lands End in 9 days. Its an average of 115 miles per day, ascending 8,500 feet per day, which to put into context, is the equivalent of doing 9 ironman bike legs without a days rest. This is the web page www.rideacrossbritain.com
There will be 600 people doing it, and i have paid £1200 to do it because I love cycling. However, having trained for the last 6 months, i know that it is going to be incredibly difficult come the 4th day and 128 mile ride from the lake district through Merseyside and Manchester to motivate myself. For that reason i want to try and raise some money to keep me going when i hit the darker points (ie if i see a scouser who tries to steal my bike ...) so i ve decided to raise cash for the following cause to help me finish. Please don't feel obliged to sponsor, but if you do I will be very grateful.
Some of you will know that my God son in Hong Kong, Mark Martin became very ill for the second time in 2007. As a 3 year old he had collapsed by the swimming pool after being shakey on his feet and fallen into a coma. After a frantic period of tests whilst in intensive care, it was discovered that Mark was suffering from a similar strain to MS known as Adem (which has a high mortality rate/ or in many instances lasting neurological damage rate). After some very frightening moments and steroid treatment, the swelling on his brain calmed down, and he made a strong recovery (mainly because he is a tough little bugger like his Dad). We thought he was very lucky.
However 2 years later disaster struck and Adem returned - Mark was again back in intensive care with the same symtoms, again in a coma at the Queen Mary. At the time i was in HK and sat with Mark's dad Paul in intensive care where i could see first hand what was without doubt the most frightening week of my life (let alone the worry for Paul and Nicky for the second time). Being the remarkable little boy that he is, Mark again fought back, and touch wood has made a solid recovery; Because the strain is relatively rare, very little is known of it, and treatments vary dramatically because the doctors are not sure themselves what is the best course of action.
For this reason, Paul has put me onto a charity that specialises in support for this specific group of illnesses The Encephalitis Society. The society provide a telephone hotline which offers advice, newletters and direct support for parents of children with encephalitis.They also contribute to ongoing research in the field either by the funding of, the support of, or conducting research to further understand the causes and consequences of encephalitis. Seeing Paul and Nicky struggling for information makes it all the more poignant that i should try and support this cause. www.encephalitis.info
this is my raising page, and if i cant get over the Cornish finish line for this cause. then i will crawl...
www.justgiving.com/Andy-Draycott
Many thanks in Advance