Participants for the Trip:

Makhan Singh Toor, Gurbaksheesh Singh Hanspal (Rob), Resh Singh Sagoo, Kav Singh Hundle, Gunwinder Singh Hanspal (Gugz), Gurmukh Singh Raja, Parv Singh Lally and Dilraj Singh Sagoo (Dil)

My story starts on a non-descript Thursday back in September 2019, sat in the airport lounge in Dublin airport, trying to arrange our regular Thursday night football game. Why the story starts this way will make sense as you read on, but I cannot work out the logic, reasoning or the divine intervention that resulted in that game taking place. The circumstances in which that game went ahead and the people who participated in it and the eventual outcome of it would have a bearing on my life which I could have never foreseen, or comprehended.

During that game of 7 a side football, which up till the point of me boarding my return flight back from Dublin was not taking place due to lack of numbers, I suffered a heart attack whilst playing and ended up having a cardiac arrest which resulted in me being clinically dead for around 4 minutes. From what I was told after the event, if it wasn’t for the quick thinking of two friends who happened to be practicing GP’s, other friends who reacted with lightening speed in calling for ambulances and getting a defibrillator to me, for a passing cardiac anaesthetist from the Glenfield hospital stopping to assist my friends, the ambulance staff and the NHS staff who fixed me whilst I was in Glenfield hospital, I would not be hear to tell the story.

Many times, people have told me that I was lucky to still be here to tell the story, but for me the fact that I was clinically dead for 4 minutes doesn’t resonate with me. What really crystallises it for me is when my brother in law, who is a serving Police officer in the Yorkshire Constabulary told me, that when they are taught CPR as part of their work the percentage of people that survive cardiac arrests outside of a hospital environment is around 15%. This fact hits home more for me that I either beat the odds, or someone was looking down on me that night. The fact that the football game even took place that evening when clearly we couldn't get the numbers, for 2 GP’s to be around playing in that game, for a defibrillator to be close at hand, for a passing cardiac anaesthetist to stop and assist and for me to be in theatre getting and ‘fixed’ within 2 hours of the incident, clearly means the divine almighty clearly threw me back to earth for a reason.

Maybe at that point I felt that I had to take the opportunity to help make a small difference back in life and to be able to give back in some small way.

This leads us to why we are here. Those of you who know me, know that I have a passion of cars and as I am not the most ‘sporty’ person on the planet. So doing a charity walk or bike ride from lands ends to john o groats is not really my thing. So what’s the best way for a petrol head to make a difference with the opportunity I have been afforded? How about a charity event where we pair up in teams and buy cheap cars up to the value of £500 (each pair in effect donating £250), make them as road legal as they can possibly be and drive them up to Scotland and back home over 4 days.

This would not be treated as a race, it would be more aligned to a rally or an endurance event, with the jeopardy of getting left behind to get back home on your own. an ever present risk. Once everyone returns back home the cars will be cleaned, prepared and auctioned off with all proceeds being given to charity. Additionally any money generated during the event will also be donated straight to charities of our choosing.

I feel very honoured that I have a group of friends who tend to go along with most of my more ‘hair brained’ ideas without too much kick back. I have therefore dragged 7-8 of them into this event to participate. They will be buying and driving their purchased cars in the trip and help with the generation of the donations. As all of them in one way or another are fortunate in life, business and work the generation of donations should not be a problem for them all. It should be noted that all costs for the trip will be supported by the 7-8 drivers with all fund raised money being being sent straight to the 3 charities.

Two of those identified charities are doing amazing jobs in helping children with saving so many lives and supporting patients and children with heart conditions, locally and globally. The third charity will be one those who closely support the plight of farmers in India flighting against the challenges of COVID-19 and the oppression of the Indian Government in their farming policy, Khalsa Aid.

The date of the Trip has been set for Thursday 15 July - Sunday 18 July 2021.

Thanks, Dil