Update Jan 2012 - After posting a DNF at IMWales, with the support of the organisers at Regensburg, Andrew will continue his puruit for Beatrice's Iron medal at Iron Man Regensburg, 17th June 2012.
2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and a marathon (26.2miles) within 16 hours. Please support this monumental stupidity in any way you can :D
Beatrice is our beautiful three year old daughter. She is bright and full of life, always wanting to explore the world around her. Beatrice is always happy and ready to greet new people with a smile and a wave.
In July 2010 we received the news that Beatrice has Type II SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy). This, amongst other things, means she'll never walk. Gutting, to say the least. It's taken us a while to get used to this (Beatrice doesn't seem overly bothered!!), but we're finaly coming to terms with what it will mean for us - Change of house, change of location, change of vehicles - All going to be expensive!
Added to this, we've found out that in all likelihood our local PCT won't fund an appropriate powered chair for Beatrice. One of the key attributes of children with SMA is that they're smart - really smart. I suppose it's a bit of balance. Limited mobility at a young age, however, can limit opportunities for learning and exploring the child's environment. Therefore early access to mobility is imperative - we want Beatrice to have as close to the same mobility as a normal toddler and this can be achieved through a powered chair with height adjustment - but it doesn't come cheap - £20,000. And we have to change the chair every 5 years, so this is an everlasting campaign so that once we’ve got her mobile, we can keep her mobile! We’re also raising funds for mobility related equipment, including vehicle related adaptations (and hopefully changing the vehicle to a Wheelchair Access Vehicle).
On September 11th 2011 Andrew (Beatrice's Dad) will be competing in Iron Man Wales - that's a 2.4 mile sea swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a marathon (26.2 miles) - it will be a real challenge given that he can't swim freestyle, keeps falling off his bike and goes lame when he runs!
Please support his race and our daughter by donating anything you can - all donations are made with a non-binding condition that the money will go toward Beatrice.
We can get there with your help - she'll keep whizzing round for a long time :-)
Lots of love,
Andrew, Amy, Beatrice and Henry xxx
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