Have now  collected in sponsor money from all sources and forwarded it to Freeman. Including money detailed on this site and donations received electronically on Tim Lyman's site the final total of money raised is £5698.30. 

This is an exceptional total and many thanks both to my friends who took part in the marathon and all our supporters who gave so generously. Well done everyone!

Hi,

I am 56 years old and had a double lung transplant at Freeman hospital exactly a year ago. To thank Freeman for all they have done for me and my family I am organising a fund raising event and would like as many people as possible to support us.

In my youth I was a prolific sportswoman playing a variety of sports including hockey, badminton, table tennis and womens cricket. Many of these I played at junior county level and went on to play at various clubs and county & england u25 level at cricket. Unfortunately in my mid 40's my health began to fail rapidly, I was constantly plagued by chest infections and respiratory problems. It got so bad i was retired on ill health from the West Yorkshire Police, a job I loved, and very soon after that found myself virtually housebound. My breathing became so bad it affected my mobility and every part of my daily life and i had to use an electric buggy to get around outside the house. It was eventually diagnosed that i had COPD and Alpha 1 Anti Trypsin Deficiency, a condition that i was apparently born with. There is currently no cure for this. A year ago after a wait of 18 months on the transplant register and 4 false alarms I was fortunate enough to get a double lung transplant at Freeman. The staff at Freeman I cannot speak highly enough of and their care and support has been second to none, not just for me but also my husband and family.

Having had my operation I needed to get fit again and to this end joined the Ripon Spa Hotel Croquet Club, in North Yorkshire. This is excellent exercise and the club members from Fergus the Chairman right through the ranks have all been very kind and supportive to me. My progress has amazed even me, some times i have to pinch myself to know that its all real.

As I say I wanted to do something to raise funds for FHLTA and the croquet club are going to help me.

Starting at 6am on Monday 15th August 2011 myself and 7 other members are going to make an attempt at playing a continuous 48 hour game of golf croquet at our Ripon base. We will, if all goes well, play singles, 2 at a time for 2 hour slots in rotation throughout the period ending at 6am on Wednesday 17th August.

Each of us will be getting sponsored for the event and all money raised over the period will go to the Freeman charity. If we achieve our aim we believe we will create a world record. We will then post it for any other clubs to try and beat.

Its all very exciting and as well as financial support i hope as many people as possible will come along and watch and cheer us on. Amongst out team members are three current international players so the standard of croquet will be high and good to watch.

FHLTA is a wonderful charity run by transplant recipients like myself and it provides financial and moral support to patients who are waiting for transplant right through the operation and the follow up process. It also supports mediacl staff with their research to improve outcomes for patients.

Please give whatever you can afford to support this event. Thank you.

Maggie x

WE DID IT. At 6am on wednesday 17th my team became holders of the world record. More importantly we got good media coverage by BBC Radio York and the ITV Calendar news for the event ( still on i player if you want to look).

We are still collecting in donations and our target is gradually nearing. If you can help it along further that would be great.

 

 

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