On June the 5th Rhiannon and I will be attempting our first ever sprint Triathlon at Blenheim palace. Those of you who know us will understand how hard it’s been for both of us to focus long enough to complete even one part of the triathlon! But we both think it worthwhile to support Hannah and David Cole’s Charity, “Thinking of Oscar”. It is a charity in memory of their son Oscar Cole, who died suddenly on June 19th 2014, aged just 16 months.

Below is Oscar’s Story. We would be so grateful should you choose to sponsor us........

On Thursday 19th June 2014 Oscar Noah Cole died. Oscar was in hospital being treated routinely for an infection and nobody imagined that he would not make a full recovery. A post mortem and investigation followed and at a meeting with his consultants at the beginning of this year Hannah and David were finally were able to understand what was likely to have caused Oscar's death. Essentially it was a combination of bad luck and bad timing with Oscar contracting Rotavirus during his treatment which in turn lead to Encephalitis, which is a very rare outcome.

The intention from the outset was to identify a cause which goes beyond one family’s tragedy to address an issue of broader social interest and the primary measure of success for the campaign will be the impact that they have collectively had in their lifetimes.

The objectives for ‘Thinking of Oscar’ are:

The relief of sickness and promotion of the health of children, young people and their families whilst in hospital care across England, in particular but not exclusively by:

 - Providing support and activities to patients (children) their families and medical teams who strive to make their time in hospital as comfortable as possible.

  - Providing funding for the development of research and development into and the provision of improved diagnostic techniques and technology.

  - Providing increased access to relevant knowledge and data via the sharing of best practice and the application of technology.