As many of you will know, Harry Jeffrey, my son, was diagnosed with and treated for osteosarcoma in 2008 and 2009. He is now at university studying law, and that time is and we hope will remain behind us. During his treatment, he received fantastic care from doctors, nurses and many others at University College Hospital and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. During his extended period in UCH, he was lucky to benefit from being in a ward set up by the Teenage Cancer Trust in conjunction with the NHS. TCT’s objective is simple: that all teenagers with cancer should be treated in specialist facilities that cater for their very particular requirements (http://www.teenagecancertrust.org).
If you are interested in reading more about our experiences during Harry's treatment, please click here.
Being in the TCT ward made a huge difference to Harry and to Marion (his mother) and me. We resolved after his treatment finished to help TCT to raise money in order to open further facilities around the country dedicated to treating teenagers with cancer. To this end, we have been joined by a number of friends who have volunteered their help and support, and Marion has already held a highly successful lunch.
Sandy Muirhead is the organiser of the Cairngorm Challenge, which will be taking place on 17 July to raise funds for Teenage Cancer Trust. To use his words: “this is very definitely not for the faint-hearted and, having climbed all the Munros, I would rate this route to be as hard as anything I did in that 17-year period, in terms of distance (22 miles) and height of ascent/descent/re-ascent (total ascent of 8960 feet and total decent of 8440 feet). Those participating will need to be fit and used to spending very long days in the hills, possibly with foul weather and poor visibility. The achievement is to climb five of Scotland’s eight highest mountains, all over 4000ft (1219m) – Ben Macdui (2; 1309m), Braeriach (3; 1296m), Cairn Toul (4; 1291m), Angel’s Peak (7;1258m) and Cairngorm (8;1244m), as well as picking off the picturesquely named Bod an Deamhain (1004m) for good measure”. What Sandy does not mention in this description is that we are attempting to complete the walk in one day. Terrifying. (The second photograph on this page shows a map of the route.)
Eight of us will be taking part in the challenge: Sandy, two of his daughters (Nicola and Catriona) and one of their partners (David Shennan), John Thomson and his son Alastair, my son Edward and me (very definitely last). We will be ably supported by an array of wives and other children. I should add that I have known Sandy and John for many years. I first met Sandy when I joined Charterhouse in 1992; he is now managing partner of a highly successful investment company called Phoenix Equity Partners. John, who is a stalwart of the Edinburgh investment community, I met in the 1980s when he was at Standard Life.
