Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page to raise money for NORCHI (9816).

My daughter, Grace Streets was born on 1 July 2015, two days later she was rushed to hospital with dangerously low blood sugar levels, having had a suspected seizure.

Grace was in hospital for almost a month, which was very stressful and distressing for our family.  She was diagnosed with a very rare and difficult to manage condition called Congenital Hyper Insulinism (CHI).  

This affects about 1 in 25,000 to 50,000 children.   CHI is a disorder that causes dangerously low blood sugars in newborn babies and children.  This is caused by the uncontrolled release of insulin.  Severe low blood sugars can cause problems such as tiredness and reduced feeding.  In normal children, when low blood sugars occur, they can access other fuels in the body for brain function, however this is not possible for children with CHI, so the brain is starved.  This can lead to fits and brain damage and if untreated, coma and even death.

We were eventually referred to NORCHI which is a specialist unit, at the Central Manchester University Hospital, where Grace received excellent care and management of her condition.

Grace is now almost eight months old and appears to be making a full recovery with no adverse effects.  She will however remain under the care of NORCHI for the foreseeable future.

As this condition is so rare, any additional funding for NORCHI could make a huge difference to children and families in this situation in future.  

To create a suitable challenge I enlisted the help of my good friend and regular mountain biker Pete Swanborough.

Pete and I will be riding three marathon style mountain bike events over the course of the Summer.  

The first one in April is 100km, waymarked route with 4,000 feet of climbing.  

The second one in July is 100km, self navigated with 6,000 feet of climbing and a ten hour deadline.  

The last and most difficult one in September, is 100km again with almost 10,000 feet of climbing.

In total this equates to riding 300km up a hill two thirds the height of Mount Everest!

Any donations gratefully received 

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