Hi, thanks for visiting my fundraising page,
UPDATE - 19 February 2010:
I have just extended this page to the end of this year as I still want to complete more fundraising activities for GOSH. Updates on these will follow as my plans become clear.
UPDATE:
At 07:15 local time Wednesday 30th September 2009 I stood on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro!! Thank you to everyone for all of the support so far. I'll keep this page going and will work on further fundraising activities to hit my target of £10K for GOSH. I'll also leave my original message below as this explains why...
I’ll keep this simple. I believe that GOSH as an organisation and everyone involved in its operation, management, support and fundraising are absolutely fantastic. Not only is the medical care world class but the support and care given to parents, often during distressing and extended timescales, is something special too. After our son Jamie was treated at GOSH I made a commitment to give something back and this year I am in a position to do that. In September this year I am going to climb Kilimanjaro with a goal of raising £10,000. As it was my 50 last year this is also a bit of a personal challenge for me!
Jamie’s story
When my wife Michelle had her first scan at 20 weeks during her first pregnancy an abnormality was identified in Jamie’s kidneys. This was monitored over the subsequent weeks until after he was born when further tests were conducted at GOSH to diagnose the real nature of the problem. He had duplex kidneys, which are not necessarily a major cause for concern, but the duplicated part of his left kidney was not functioning which did raise some issues. GOSH decided that surgery was necessary so at eight months old Jamie was admitted and, unknown to me, I was about to go through the worst experience of my life. I carried Jamie down into the operating theatre area where they quickly, gently and easily put him to sleep. I’d known what to expect but it was still a shock and it felt like he’d died in my arms, going from a smiling baby to a limp deadweight in seconds. It was horrible. I don’t have the words to describe that feeling. However, this is where the doctors and nurses stepped in as they must know what parents feel like in that situation and from that moment until we walked out of the hospital three days later I think there was as much care and support went into looking after us as there was expended on Jamie.
The operation and subsequent recovery were trouble free and Jamie came off his medication immediately and has never looked back; but our experience was an easy one with a happy outcome. Some children and parents are not so fortunate and there isn’t a happy outcome in every case. This is where your respect and admiration for GOSH and everyone involved steps up to a different level as they handle this pain on an ongoing basis.
I’ll do everything I can to complete my challenge and climb Kilimanjaro. Please help me to help GOSHCC meet theirs.
