As most of you know, there's something a bit wrong with my legs. What you might know is that it's actually a disease called CMT - Charcot-Marie Tooth disease (after the funky French guys who discovered it) or Hereditary Motor and Sensory Neuropathy. It's degenerative, and affects the long, peripheral nerves to your feet and hands. This means that, as the disease progresses, you lose sensation and motor control in your feet, making walking really hard if not impossible. It can progress to your hands too, making you lose grip and dexterity. Scary stuff.

 

Apparently it's the most common inherited neuropathy but no-one, medical professionals included, seem to have heard of it. This is where the whole swimming malarkey comes in. I've set myself the challenge of completing the Great London Swim to do three things:

 

1) Prove to the world that having a diagnosis of a degenerative disease doesn't have to stop you doing anything. Hey, when I was 14 they told me I might be in a wheelchair by the time I was 21...

 

2) Raise awareness of CMT.

 

3) Raise as much as I can for CMT United Kingdom - the UK charity working to support those who are affected by CMT.

 

So thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page, and any donations will be much appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

Caroline

 

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.