Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
This is for the memory of my late son Jack, who passed away in 2008 just short of his 18th birthday due to a rare, undetected heart condition called Brugada Syndrome. It is also dedicated to Jack's brother Rob & mum Janet who have bravely carried on fundraising & raising awareness for the charity CRY - Cardiac Risk in the Young, who support those left behind by such tragedies and campaign to introduce effective screening for the young. Please visit their website of www.c-r-y.org.uk to find out more about their work.
There are a number of forms of Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) which Brugada is one of them - I also unfortunately carry the Brugada gene. CRY have kickstarted research and awareness into the conditions, which it is now thought leads to 12 young,fit, apparantly healthy people like Jack dying out of the blue EACH WEEK in the UK. Several high profile sportsmen & women have suffered such death - Marc-Vivien Foe of Manchester City, Simon O'Donnell of Celtic & Motherwell to name but two.Cycling's Nicolas Portal of Team Sky has just had a scare, which fortunately further tragedy has been averted through monitoring. Team Sky (including gold medallist & Tour de France challenger Bradley Wiggins) now work with CRY to monitor all its team members.
I have rediscovered the absolute joy of cycling after a few years' break. In order to raise funds & awareness for CRY, I along with my bike mentor/guru/Uni pal Mark Kenny & nephew Dave Wigley, will attempt La Time Megeve Mont Blanc bike ride in the Alps on 6 June. Dave living in Switzerland and Mark's undimmed enthusiasm helps, but I have a few factors against me:
a. I live in pan-flat Suffolk
b. there are no mountain ranges in East Anglia to practice on
c. I could probably do with losing a stone or so
d. The ride goes over a number of the Alps that feature in the Tour de France, such as the Col des Aravis, Col de la Croix Fry & Crest Voland. The ride wil be at least 85 km long, hopefully 115km and will climb up to 2,900 metres as it skirts round Mont Blanc. Ben Nevis is a mere 1,344 metres high in comparison.
So, I am writing to you to please, please support me and CRY by sponsoring me for whatever you can via this website.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.
If you feel it appropriate, please forward this website onto your friends, family & colleagues to boost the support.
Thanks!
Roger
