Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. 

I set this page up about 2.5 years ago as initially I was going to be trekking along the Great Wall of China in October 2020. I was hugely overwhelmed and grateful for the support and donations I received back then, but unfortunately Covid-19 restrictions meant that the trek could not go ahead. We have been waiting patiently and now it finally looks like we can go!! The location has been changed to Petra and we will be going on the 24th September - 30th September 2022. This new location to me feels like a much more challenging trek than China! We will be trekking 4-8 hours a day in very hot and sandy conditions, there will be rocky climbs and sand dunes, and we will be camping overnight, with the potential of meeting scorpions!! The funds raised so far have been carried over, and as I said before I am so so grateful for the support I have received so far, but I would love to continue raising funds to achieve the best I can for Keech Hospice! 

The reason I am doing this is for my youngest daughter Hannah. Hannah, was born with severe epilepsy amongst other health conditions. We were introduced to Keech Hospice Care who were amazing in their support to Hannah and our family. They helped us care for Hannah throughout her short life and as well as in her final few days with us. I will be forever grateful. If you would like to read our story I have written it out below:

Our daughter Hannah was born on the 16th February 2012. Before her birth we were told that she would have talipes (a club foot) but other than that we were expecting a healthy baby. Unfortunately the first 2 weeks of her life didn't go smoothly and although discharged from hospital it was clear that Hannah wasn't feeding as well as a newborn baby should. Hannah was not developing as expected, and soon after I had voiced my concerns to our GP, Hannah was rushed to hospital after she suddenly stopped breathing. This was a terrifying time. Although Hannah recovered by herself, this continued to happen every couple of days. After 3 ambulance rushes to hospital the doctors started to investigate properly. These episodes turned out to be seizures and an MRI scan revealed that her brain had not developed normally and we were given devastating news that Hannah would not live a typical life and would likely have some serious health problems. 

We went through nearly two years of appointments with various consultants, hospital admissions, and many tests to try to find out Hannah's diagnosis and to try to control Hannah's epilepsy. A diagnosis was never found for Hannah, and her epilepsy control varied. She ended up on several different anti-epileptic drugs and these had to be frequently changed as her seizures changed and adjusted to the medication over time. Hannah lost her ability to feed orally and had a nasal feeding tube followed soon after with a gastrostomy. Hannah's condition meant that she was unable to sit up, she couldn't talk and she was registered blind (cortical visual impairment). We had a huge amount of support from our family and friends, and we had amazing carers assigned to Hannah, yet trying to manage all of Hannah's care needs and correspondence with medical professionals was extremely hard work, physically and emotionally. 

Just before Hannah's second birthday it was suggested that we get in contact with Keech Hospice. As many people have often described before, when you first hear the word hospice you think only of end of life care, and it was an extremely daunting prospect to be entering into that world. We first met the community team, who came out to our home. They were so lovely and reassuring, and after a couple of weeks I finally plucked up the courage to attend a tots and toys group. The tots and toys group was lovely, designed for pre-school children and their carers, activities were organised to meet the abilities of the children and lots of volunteers on hand to play with the children, giving the parents and carers a chance to meet and talk to each other. 

Sadly Hannah's health continued to deteriorate and we made more use of the medical assistance that Keech provides. Hannah's community nurse was fantastic at keeping in touch and always had the time to chat and discuss things. We often had meetings with the children's doctors at Keech who really got to know Hannah on her stays at the hospice, and any concerns I had they were so quick to respond to and corresponded with Hannah's various consultants to bring forward a new plan of medication or therapy. It become a comfortable place where we got to know the staff so well and it felt like they really cared about their jobs and providing the best possible care for Hannah. 

Hannah had access to reiki and reflexology which she loved and she used to make us giggle with her coo-ing sounds. She also did hydrotherapy on occasions when she was well enough and this would send her off to sleep. Parties were organised for Christmas and Easter and we have some lovely photos of various animals sitting on Hannah's lap, including a lamb! It wasn't all just about Hannah though, Keech always made sure siblings were involved, and Bethan, our eldest daughter, always enjoyed going there and she attended the sibling support group 'Sparklers' once a month were they put on fun activities for them to do. 

Sadly Hannah passed away on the 9th September 2016, at just 4 years old. We have so many precious and wonderful memories of those 4 and a half years and many of those were achieved through events organised by Keech, including our visit to Woburn Safari Park to feed the elephants, which was the last thing we did as a whole family. Since then we have all continued to be supported by Keech, I went back on a regular basis for reiki and bereavement counselling. Bethan especially has gone back for music therapy and bereavement therapy and still attends Sparklers. When Hannah died every contact we had on a day to day basis, kind of stopped then and there and our lives changed completely. But to be still involved at Keech means a huge amount to us and is a place where we still feel close to Hannah. 

I have decided to take on this challenge, as this is something I would never have considered before. It's a challenge physically and will keep me going out running and attending fitness classes which has been a huge part of my mental wellbeing. It will also be an emotional journey which I feel privileged to be sharing with other trekkers as part of this experience. This is one way I feel I can say thank you to Keech, and Hannah is my inspiration (she always has been). Any donation you feel you can give would be gratefully received, it will be going towards a service that is invaluable, and needed by so many people.

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