Story

For a child with a heart condition, the simplest things that we take for granted are a feat of endurance. When a child has an insufficient oxygen supply to their muscles those precious first steps are akin to running a marathon. When one of my twin girls, Olivia, was diagnosed with a number of serious congenital heart defects we feared we might never see her take these steps. Luckily she was diagnosed and treated at the excellent cardiac centre within Bristol Childrens' Hospital. Thanks to the expertise of the staff and their facilities, she is now a happy 2 year old and trying hard to keep up with her twin, Elizabeth. The Grand Appeal is supporting a significant expansion of the Cardiac Unit which will have a major, positive impact on the treatment and surgery available to cardiac patients. The Appeal will be raising £1 million to provide a world class, state-of-the-art facility and pioneering equipment which will help save the lives of babies and children from all over the South West and South Wales . For more details on their work please see <a href="http://www.grandappeal.org">www.grandappeal.org</a> As soon as I heard this I wanted to help. Luckily I have a lovely friend, John, who was willing to assist. We started talking about how we could raise some money and came up with the idea of a sponsored cycle from London to Paris (drink had been taken). We both thought that this was a suitable feat of endurance to illustrate how difficult it is to be a heart child. Plus we are 2 of the world's most unfit people and there's no point asking people for money unless you're doing something challenging. So in August 2012 John & I are going to cycle the 300 miles from London to Paris in 4 days. This trip promises no merci and we will be an Eiffel in lycra. Thank you for reading. Please sponsor us if you can. Love Andrea Fowler & John Pepworth

Andrea & John's in-Seine challenge

Andrea & John's in-Seine challenge

Story

Donation summary