Updated on May 14th 2011 at 11:04 PM from the JustGiving API
Thank you, thank you everyone. We have made it. We ended at battersea bridge because it is near the Chelsea and westminster hospital where my brother is residing after a stroke over Easter weekend. Yes, Hampton court is amazing . Yes, syon house is majestic , but you know what , seeing my brother walk onto the jetty, having done a runner from the ward, (when ten days ago his left side was not fuctionning at all) aided and abetted by darling Annie and Tom, well, it puts it all into perspective. This was a wonderful experience and I loved every second of it but at the end of the day it is your unstinting love and support that has made this harebrained fundraiser so unforgettable. So Thank you all from the bottom of my heart and frankly where to next!!!! Bon voyAge .
Updated on May 13th 2011 at 7:52 PM from the JustGiving API
Forgot to mention that cliveden hotel were incredibly kind and made us stay there!!! (joke). We took to it like a duck to water and are very grateful to them for harbouring us. Hope you like the 'Thames talk' . We now say mooring , not parking. Above the chippy tonight so lucky we're so adaptable! On on.
Updated on May 13th 2011 at 6:56 PM from the JustGiving API
Golly what day is it?! This is the most beautiful adventure I could ever have imagined. The beauty of the river at this time of year is amazing. Louisa BURNAND joined us for the day yesterday at Henley and we then proudly rowed the Henley mile. A real bunch of misfits. Me rowing and sal and louisa on paddles! Every time we saw someone I yelled 'do we remind you of Stephen redgrave'? You should have seen their shocked faces. Priceless. On on
Updated on May 11th 2011 at 7:55 AM from the JustGiving API
Day 3. Last night guy came to meet us at radley college bearing a single peony from the garden as a gift. I adore peonies and he knew how sad I would be missing their blooming. I was rather overwhelmed by this offering of love. When you marry and say your vows'for better and for worse' you can have no understanding of their full meaning. Well, guy has been there beside me every step of the way and I feel so much love and thanks to him. I am blessed to share this life with him. On on to sonning bridge where he and Tom meet us tonight.
Updated on May 10th 2011 at 6:46 PM from the JustGiving API
Just finished day 2. Everyone on the river being so supportive. Used the engine quite a bit today. Almost more nerve wracking than rowing slowly. Had our closest shave yet with a wier. Very funny. Staying at radley college tonight. Very kind of them to put us up. More adventures tomorrow.
Updated on May 10th 2011 at 1:38 PM from the JustGiving API
Had the most wonderful start yesterday with family and friends . Ended up very quickly on a blooming hawthorn bush! The river is looking so beautiful. Now at onset lock
Updated on Apr 11th 2011 at 6:55 PM from the JustGiving API
2nd training run completed. Had our first lesson with a charming Lock keeper at Buscot. No collateral damage ! More importantly there still seems to be some water left in the Thames. Onwards
Original Story: My name is Samantha Thornton and just seven years ago, I was at Barts Hospital in the City, being treated for cancer that had spread to my bone marrow. I had a rare combination of two lymphomas: an aggressive form of large B-cell lymphoma which had got to stage 4, and follicular lymphoma (another cancer of the B cells).
They were hit hard with Chemo and the large B-cell went into remission, but the other one didn't. And so, my arduous journey began... I was offered a pioneering auto stem cell transplant under the watchful care of Prof Andrew Lister at Barts.
I had chemo for six months to get me into remission, and then given drugs to make my stem cells multiple exponentially. Stem cells were harvested from my bone marrow. Then I was given a fatal dose of chemo - it was a very bizarre feeling, like I was on death row - but at that same crucial time, my stem cells were reintroduced back into my body. We all just had to hope that they would take and my body wouldn't pack up. And miraculously, it worked.
Professor Lister has since retired but I am forever grateful to him and his research department which is now headed by Prof John Gribben. They saved my bacon!
I went into remission in 2009 - but my road to recovery was complicated by devastating post-traumatic stress syndrome. I became terrified of everything and suffered a partial breakdown. The team in haematology/oncology realised I was sinking and put me into touch with Dr Hilly Harvey, a cancer psychiatrist at Barts. She was amazing and with her help, and through the knowledge I have of meditation, we were able to get myself out of the hell hole I found myself in.
I am now embarking on a fundraising challenge to raise money for Barts - I hope to raise over £5,000, plus an additional £1,000 to help fund meditation retreats. With my friend Sally Dodd-Noble, I will be heading up the Thames in a small rowing boat called the Pog. We will potter down the river from Wiltshire to London, leaving on Monday 9 May.
This is over 100 miles and there are 45 locks to conquer. It's a small boat and the tide currents are strong. We think that it will take a week - though it's less than two hours by car! Life is a river, and this will be an expedition to celebrate life and its meandering course. To go to hell and back for seven and a half years, get better, and then go to hell and back again, is a very good reason to celebrate living. I've never done anything like this in my life. So here's to our adventure, I'm sure we will have fun! I cannot tell you how happy I am to be doing this.
Money raised will help support Prof John Gribben's research at Barts into stem cell therapies. Prof Gribben, an internationally respected oncologist, says: "My laboratory is undertaking work to address the hypothesis that cancer cells drive the host immune response to generate unique microenvironments that are conducive to cancer cell growth. We postulate that by understanding the molecular processes that drive these changes more fully, we shall be able to develop therapeutic strategies to target the microenvironment to improve the results of treatment."
So please dig deep and donate to this fantastic cause!
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