Christine and Laura are taking up the challenge of trekking across mountains at the other end of the world in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital, the hospital for sick children.  We are doing the Inca Trail in Peru - a gruelling 10 day trek through forests, green valleys and sky-scraping mountain passes.

Great Ormond Street Hospital gave Laura's son, Sam, a chance when there was no chance. 

Here is a little more of Sam's story - just one example of a child who has been saved by this wonderful hospital:

When Sam was born in April 2007 he was healthy for about 5 minutes.  He  was given oxygen but within a few hours needed to be ventilated, and moved to a hospital better equipped to support him.  However by the time Sam had reached the hospital in Brighton he had reached a state where he could not breathe, even with the help of an aggressive ventilator.  His little lungs had filled with blood and were simply not working.  His blood was acidotic - doing damage to all his organs, including his brain.  There was no way he could continue as he was, despite the attempts of a very dedicated and kind doctor at Brighton Hospital.  Dr Bumont had told his parents of a treatment called ECMO for which Sam might be a candidate, and a team from Great Ormond Street hospital arrived to transport Sam to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. 

But this was not an easy task.  Sam needed to change ventilators as the one he was on could not be used in an ambulance.  The type he needed to be on was part of what had caused his lungs to bleed in the first place.  He would not handle the change.  He would not survive the ambulance trip.  If by some miracle he did survive he would most likely be severely damaged by the lack of oxygen he was experiencing.  There was no hope. 

His parents were given a choice: Make Sam comfortable where he was, or take him on a journey he would not survive.  They made their choice and not once was it questioned.  Not once did anyone say - "let's not waste our time or money". 

Sam was moved onto the transport ventilator, and his oxygen levels increased.  His dad had the pleasure of listening to doctors laughing in the ambulance as Sam continued to improve!  Thank God!

Sam was put onto ECMO at Great Ormond Street Hospital. This is a type of bypass system that gave his lungs and heart a chance to rest and recover.  It is used for children suffering from very severe lung or heart disease, and are not responding to the usual forms of treatment.  It is a risky procedure, and Sam was far from out of the woods. He spent 6 days on ECMO and a further week in NICU at Great Ormond Street before being transported to his local hospital.  For the first few days Sam was on ECMO he had 2 nurses at his bedside caring for him 24 hours a day.  They did not leave him for a second.  They were busy all the time, checking for clotting, monitoring his condition consistently.  But they still found the energy to buy him a soft toy which they placed in his cot.  The little gift helped his distraught parents realise that they could love, enjoy and spoil their baby, even though he was so ill.  The nurses stuck little stickers on his headband, and used his toys to prop up tubes and to make Sam more comfortable.  His parents were given accommodation in a nearby building, and were allowed to visit Sam whenever they liked, 24 hours a day.  There was a blur of tests done on Sam.  His progress was slow, and it was 12 days before finally he finally was allowed to be picked up and cradled in his mother and father's arms.

Today Sam and Christine's daughter, Emilie, are best of friends.  Looking at Sam playing with Emilie you would never guess that he had such a traumatic start to life.  He is a happy 2 year old. He does have an ongoing issue in that he has hydrocephalus, which is controlled by a shunt.  This has given him some trouble over the last year, but in spite of that he is a happy and content child.  His development is completely normal - there is not a single area that raises concern.  He recently did an IQ test for his age group, and scored a beautiful 'Average'.  But in reality there is nothing average about Sam, and there is nothing average about a hospital that can afford to give a child that does not have hope, a chance!  They can do this because of generous people who have given of their hard earned money to give children a chance. 

Without this kind of generosity Sam, and many others, would not be alive today.  Miracles happen every day at Great Ormond Street hospital.  Great Ormond Street survives on donations in the excess of £50 million pounds a year.  We are so grateful to all who support this charity.  We hope to help raise money for someone else's son or daughter to be treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital, so please dig deep and help save another child's life.

Together we are participating in this trek to raise funds for the benefit of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity.  We have each guaranteed to raise at least £2750, of which approximately £1475 will be used to pay for the costs of our flights and accommodation.  We hope to raise a lot more than this, and all money above this will go straight to Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity.  We have already paid an additional £200 each to secure our places and cover administration costs.

Thank you for your generosity,

Laura & Christine