Thanks to those friends and people who i have never met for looking in and especially for making a donation.
For those looking in i guess you would be aware that i am due to swim the English Channel on and around the week of the 13th of July 2009.
This challenge came to me one day when i was doing a couple of lengths in the local swimming pool. It sounds crazy i know but it was as simple as that and over a period of a couple of months i started to believe that i could make it a reality.
My charity is ASBAH and as you can tell from the logo and attachments deals in Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. i chose this charity because i had a brother who was Spina Bifida.Michael died some years ago but is always with me and on my mind. For that reason i have dedicated this page to him.
II am specifically supporting Surrey ASBAH and in meeting with the charity alocally and being made incredibly welcome it has brought back many happy memories of my brother and the years spent growing up with someone who lived life with joy and happiness no matter what physical difficulties he had to overcome.Therefore knowing that makes this challenge all the more doable.
I hope people see that if what i am trying to do is quite a challenge then they can see that everyday people out there with spina bifida and hydrocephalus have greater challenges to overcome and they do this without reservation.
Your support personally and in your donations is very much appreciated.
Love to my family and friends that every day give me the encouragement to make this happen.
AndyXX
Dear One and all,
Sorry for the delay in putting up a conclusion but things have been hectic since the swim and i wanted to give due consideration to what to say. On the 5th of August i attempted to swim the English Channel, i swam for 10 and a half hours and made a distance of around 17 miles. I have learnt at this time that i did not have the mental and physical capabilities to complete the task. The conditions were great, the pilot and support team were awesome but in the end i got out. i won't make excuses about how i felt as this it what i have trained for.
Although i feel very sad that i wasn't able to complete the challenge what i have been able to raise on behalf of the charity with all your help and support has truly humbled me, thank you to you all from the bottom of my heart. If i had known what i was to go through to even be able to attempt this i may have had serious doubts as to whether i would have seen this through but keeping in mind ASBAH and also Michaels memory helped keep me on this path, and also a little ignorance played a part.
On a personal note what i have taken from this has truly changed me as a person and i intend to come back stronger and train even harder over the winter and will be looking to come back and complete the challenge next year. All the experiences i have had have been fantastic and i am sure there will be more and all the support from friends and family have blown me away. Thank you and love to everyone.
Andy XXX
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