http://challengingcf.blogspot.co.uk/

You might remember the challenges we took on last year to raise money in support of the CF Trust. Our story hasn't changed (read below) but we've changed things up a bit this time. Instead of doing lots of different challenges, we've decided to tackle a 10k run that pulls together 60 different kinds of obstacles. We are going big this time! 

We're talking mud, water slides, tightropes, tunnels, quick sand, giant walls, cargo nets, mud, water, an assault course and did we mention MUD? We'll post updates on our blog so be sure to check after the event for hilarious muddy photos  http://challengingcf.blogspot.co.uk/

Since four of us are taking part - 2xNutas and 2xMarlowes, we're aiming to raise an ambitious £400. Please support our bonkers effort, we are hoping to complete the mammoth trail with limbs intact and the awesome feeling of doing our bit to challenge CF. 

Who are we?

The caring, slightly ‘nuts’ aunties of the world’s sweetest little boy who happens to have CF- and their best friend Georgie (her brother Louis is joining us this time too!).

Why are we doing this?

We’re doing this for Silvan, for his lungs, his airways, his digestive system - for his heart of absolute gold. For all the other people battling CF every day.  We are doing this because we will never be ready to accept that this disease can win. They can find a cure, we just have to make sure we do our part to support them until they do.

How are we doing this?

This is our second fundraising run and we're excited to be supporting the CF Trust again. Last year we did a combination of challenges and ran, climbed, biked and baked our way to raising  £1,098.78, exceeding our initial target!. We documented the journey here http://challengingcf.blogspot.co.uk/

The Reason

We’d never fundraised before and although we try to be charitable people in general - we realised last year that that isn’t enough. It was time to do something, anything to contribute toward beating Cystic Fibrosis for good.

CF is a genetic life-threatening super mean disease and it starts wreaking havoc at birth - it gradually attacks your lungs and digestive system. The lungs become clogged with thick sticky mucus leading to infections, inflammation and limited lung capacity. Your pancreas doesn’t work well either, which means food cannot be digested or absorbed properly. It’s degenerative, so it never gets better - only worse as you grow older.

I didn’t know what CF was until Silvan was born in 2002. He is the oldest of our nephews and when we found out Ina was pregnant we were all beyond excited! She was the first to realize something was wrong and her clever doctor brain and maternal instincts must have really kicked in when she started spotting the symptoms in her newborn baby boy despite the fact that CF cases were pretty much unheard of in our hometown.

Although we had no prior knowledge of CF, when Silvan was a baby we learned to incorporate his treatments into our lives and it soon became the norm. The aerosol treatments, physio, his vest sessions to help clear his lungs as well as dozens of pancreatic enzymes, vitamins and supplements Silvan needs to take with every meal in order to digest food and retain a healthy weight.

Silvan is 12 now and although his normal is so different to what you’d expect of a budding teen - he still amazes us every day with his kind spirit, wisdom beyond his years and infectious sense of humor. He is the best thing to ever happen to our family and we refuse to let CF hold his little body hostage and affect his future in such a big way.

We need to find a cure - for Silvan and for all the other thousands of people living with CF. The best we can do is try and contribute toward the war the CF Trust is waging against this horrid disease and pray that they find a cure sooner rather than later.  

Fundraising is still relatively new to all three of us so bear with, follow our journey and most importantly - give generously and support our efforts of trying to kick CF to the curb! Use our justgiving page for donations - they’ll go straight to the Trust and subscribe to our blog for progress updates on our monthly challenges.

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. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Much love,

Maria, Noni and Georgie