A MASSIVE THANK-YOU TO ALL WHO DONATED TO THIS CAUSE (EITHER ON-LINE OR OFF-LINE).  WITH YOUR GENEROSITY AND KIND OFF-LINE DONATIONS OF £350 BY VODAFONE IN NEWBURY & £350 FROM THE FREEMASONS IN SOUTHAMPTON WE MANAGED TO REACH AND SURPASS OUR TARGET WHICH MADE IT ALL THE MORE WORTH WHILE!  WE HOPE THIS WILL GO A LITTLE WAY TO HELPING OTHER PEOPLE'S SITUATION A LITTLE EASIER.  **** THANKS ONCE AGAIN****

After coming down with a high temperature and sore throat - the usual symptoms in kids, Courtney was off school for a few days in May this year.  When she started complaining that she was having difficulty breathing I realised this wasn't the norm and took her to the GP.  Before I had the chance to close the doctor's door she had taken one look at Courtney, picked up the phone and called for an ambulance.  She proceeded to carry Courtney to the treatment room where she was immediately put on oxygen.  After getting to the Royal Berks hospital she was monitored during the night and her condition deteriorated.  By early morning she had to be resuscitated and put onto life support.  Xrays showed that she had severe pneumonia due to contracting influenza and staphylococcus - not a good combination!  Courtney was rushed to Great Ormond Street Hospital by CATS and was put on their life support system in the Intensive care unit.  After 5 days of treatment there, thankfully Courtney pulled through and was moved to one of the wards, where she spent a further 10 days before being allowed back to the Royal Berks in Reading and finally home!  We cannot thank the staff at GOSH enough for the care they not only gave to Courtney, but also to us which made an horrendous, stressful period of our lives easier by having their complete support and understanding.  It is for this reason that we felt we wanted to give something back to GOSH and decided to set ourselves a challenge to raise some money for their charity.  We have a team of 5 taking part in the Ultimate Grim Challenge in December which is an 8 mile run around an army vehicle test track!  Our goal is to raise around £2000 which is the cost of one of the monitors that Courtney was on.  We hope you feel you can support this cause as without the dedication of the ICU team at GOSH, we wouldn't have Courtney here with us today! - Many thanks xx

After being postponed until 15th January (due to the snow) we successfully completed the Grim Challenge in just over 2hrs!  Take a look at the photos for a good laugh!!!!  A MASSIVE THANK YOU to all who have sponsored us. xxx