Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. I am fundraising for ITU Research and Equipment Fund Number 4160

I plan to walk the Thames Path in stages over the next two to three months to raise money for North Hampshire Hospital ICU, in memory of my husband Simon. He was 61 when he died of a short illness in December 2019. 

From the moment we met Dr Ben Harris and his amazing nursing team we had confidence that Simon was in the very best hands. He received outstanding medical treatment and was cared for with compassion and dignity to the end. This care extended to us as a family and has helped us immeasurably as we have navigated the last three years.

In my work as a GP I have met many patients and relatives who have also experienced the very best NHS care on our local ICU, usually at the most traumatic moments in their lives. As I have seen them in the ensuing months and years they have, like me, been thankful for the dedication and commitment of the staff who work under the most challenging of circumstances, particularly since the extraordinary situation of the pandemic and worsening NHS pressures.

We would like to help Basingstoke ICU to continue to provide the very best care for local patients. Dr Harris is hoping to purchase a Trans-Oesophageal Echo Probe (TOE) which would allow the team to assess the severity of shock states in critically unwell patients. An echo probe is used to monitor and assess heart and blood pressure function –the TOE is a big advance on the current trans thoracic probe which is placed on the chest wall and often gives much poorer views of the heart and large blood vessels. Better assessment via TOE enables the clinicians to provide optimum treatment. This is not something that could be bought without charitable donations and we hope to make a very significant contribution towards the target of £20,000.

Walking the Thames is a very appropriate challenge – Simon and I always loved walking together, whether it be just us plus Fergus the black lab, or with family and friends. Walking alone and with others has sustained me over the past three years and I hope I will have some company as I walk 180 miles upstream from the Thames Barrier to the source at Kemble in Gloucestershire.

As well as the walk I will add the proceeds from the sale of one of Simon’s treasured pinball machines ( the aptly named Revenge from Mars) and we have some other fundraising plans. We have also agreed with Ben Harris that if some other piece of equipment becomes a more pressing requirement then the donations would go to that and we would of course let donors know.

Thank you so much for your donation. Every little helps towards this cause which is so close to our hearts.

Catherine and family