POWER TO THE PEDAL IN AID OF MENINGITIS

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One year ago I participated in a cycling challenge in Lanzarote. It was the first time I had cycled and I was hooked.  I have become passionate about cycling and participate in as many charity rides as my time allows.  I have now been offered the opportunity to join a Cycling Challenge in and to raise funds for a really worthwhile charity that is very close to my heart – Meningitis .

So why does this charity mean so much to me?

Twelve years ago, I was sat in the intensive care ward, watching my son Marshall on a life support machine. He had contracted meningitis and his health had deteriorated so quickly that Doctors in our local Sunderland hospital could not offer any more help and suggested that he be transferred to where the facilities were much better. He was given just a 40% chance of recovering.

I’m happy to say that battled through the next 48 hours and made a full recovery.  But this terrifying incident really brought home to me that if the facilities had been available in - along with the dedication of the team of staff looking after him - he could have been treated properly there and then and we would not have had to go through those agonising 48 hours, not knowing if he was going to survive.

So, at long last I have the chance to raise some significant funds for Meningitis , a national charity, with the single focus of finding a vaccine to protect against all forms of meningitis and associated diseases and I am aiming to raise at least £5000 in donations.

This is where the cycling bit comes in!  I am currently training to complete a gruelling cycle ride of 300 miles over 7 days taking me from to .  The ride is scheduled to take place early in 2010 with much of the route being off road, along tracks through remote regions including jungle.  It is going to be a real challenge for me and a test of my stamina, strength – and cycling!

Meningitis is a terrible disease which can kill in less than 4 hours and tragically is most prevalent in children and young people. Meningitis ’s ‘Search for a Vaccine Campaign’ aims to raise £7m to help fund cutting edge research in the to develop a vaccine within the next 5 to 10 years for Meningitis B which causes 90% of cases in the . Such a breakthrough would make a huge difference to countless lives by eliminating this deadly disease thereby avoiding countless families the needless pain and suffering such as we endured those 12 years ago.

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