Jamie Evans
John O'Groats to Lands End
Fundraising for B.I.R.D Charity
Story
Hi
Firstly, thank you for visiting my fundraising page.
In September this year I will be attempting the Lands End to John O'Groats....but the other way around, John O'Groats to Lands End - aka JOG2LE. This is referred to as the more challenging due to the headwinds running through Britain.
This is a challenge I have wanted to embark on for some years now, knowing all to well that 100+ miles in the saddle for 9 days will prove a BIG Challenge.
Known also as the End to End, the route runs from the Britains most northern mainland tip - John O'Groats, down to Britains most southern mainland tip - Lands End.
Although this would be a personal challenge it would be less meaningful if i didn't take the opportunity to raise funds. I may not have done the BIG Challenge this year, however as a husband and father I have really been touched by the recent circumstance of two seperate friends and their own challenges, one who is the mother of an amazing little boy called Daniel and the other as the husband of a lady called Leigh who was a fighter to the end. .
Their Story:
Daniel - born in March 2006 by emergency caesarean. For the first few months of his life things appeared normal however later Daniels mum and dad (Susanna and Gareth) started to notice that something was not quite right and at the age of 9 months Daniel was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type I which is where signals from the brain do not reach the muscles. There are several types of SMA and Daniel has the most severe type - Type I. As Susanna puts it "Daniel is our miracle", most of the type I children do not survive past their second birthday but Susanna and Gareth have been extremely lucky to be able to celebrate his 3rd birthday earlier this year. Unable to sit up, limited movement, unable to feed himself, at night a machine helps his breathing, frequent chest infections which require a machine to clear this from his chest, Daniel is a little miracle and defying the odds. He's a lovely, lively little boy with his humour and cheekiness brightening up peoples day. We want to raise money for a charity - JTSMA which has been so supportive of Daniel and his mum and dad, so please support us through JUSTGIVING.
Daniel - born in March 2006 by emergency caesarean. For the first few months of his life things appeared normal however later Daniels mum and dad (Susanna and Gareth) started to notice that something was not quite right and at the age of 9 months Daniel was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type I which is where signals from the brain do not reach the muscles. There are several types of SMA and Daniel has the most severe type - Type I. As Susanna puts it "Daniel is our miracle", most of the type I children do not survive past their second birthday but Susanna and Gareth have been extremely lucky to be able to celebrate his 3rd birthday earlier this year. Unable to sit up, limited movement, unable to feed himself, at night a machine helps his breathing, frequent chest infections which require a machine to clear this from his chest, Daniel is a little miracle and defying the odds. He's a lovely, lively little boy with his humour and cheekiness brightening up peoples day. We want to raise money for a charity - JTSMA which has been so supportive of Daniel and his mum and dad, so please support us through JUSTGIVING.
Leigh - At the age of 19 Leigh was diagnosed with a Brain Tumor and was told that it was in-operable and there was nothing to be done. Refusing to accept this, Leigh saught help elswhere and found a surgeon prepared to operate out of Oxford. A week after surgery Leigh was out drinking and celebrating life in the local pub. The tumor however refused to let her go and over the next 17 years Leigh underwent a further 3 neurosurgical resections and a full dose of radiotherapy to try and prevent tumor progression. Each time Leigh fought back to fitness. Leigh was a remarkable person who never gave up the fight, she embraced life and in 2005 Leigh gave birth to a little boy, Reuben, fulfilling her lifetime ambition in becoming a mother. Sadly when Reuben was only 18 months old the tumor was back and Leigh needed further surgery but this time the surgery was aggressive and caused a partial paralysis affecting Leigh's mobility. Once again the medical profession said that Leigh had to accept this disability, but she was not prepared to do so. The BIRD centre offered Leigh, Graeme and Rueben the HOPE they so desperately needed at a time when the general medical profession had once again given up. Leigh embarked on the programme at the BIRD clinic with huge enthusiasm and gained significant mobility improvements during her time there. The tumor though refused to go away and on the 20th February 2009 Leigh passed away having fought and defied medical expertise for 17 years. We wish therefore to raise money for the BIRD centre and give HOPE to other people whose lives are so tragically impacted by brain injuries so please support us through JUSTGIVING.
The two charities we will split the funds between through JUSTGIVING are:
Daniel - www.jtsma.org.uk/
Daniel - www.jtsma.org.uk/
Leigh - www.b-i-r-d.org.uk
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.
So please dig deep and sponsor me now!
A HUGE THANK YOU for YOUR support from Daniel(Susanna and Gareth), Leigh(Graeme and Ruben), and myself.
;-)
Jamie x