Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

In September 2001 at the age of 39 (shortly after the terrible events in the USA) I collapsed, had a seizure, was rushed to hospital and spent 72 hours in an induced coma. Turns out that I had fallen ill with Encephalitis. My family was advised to prepare for the worst. They went through hell and for that I am truly sorry! 

For those not aware of what Encephalitis is, it is an inflammation of the brain caused by an infection or through the immune system attacking the brain in error. 6,000 (0.01% of the UK population) suffer from this in the UK each year. Alarmingly 1 in 5 patients do not survive and those that do often have permanent after effects including fatigue, irritability (me), impaired concentration, seizures, hearing loss, memory loss (me) and blindness.

So - I am unbelievably lucky

Amazingly after 2 weeks in hospital I was allowed home. 3 months later I went back to work (though I was not allowed to drive for 9 months) and was able to celebrate my 40th by raising some money for the Encephalitis Society who helped me enormously. So in February 2022 I'm celebrating my 60th by raising some more money for this wonderful charity (presents are strictly forbidden). 

I'm also setting myself a bit of a challenge - which is to walk 1.5 - 2.0 miles per day, whatever the weather, between 1st November and 20th February 2022.  This gives me a target of 168 miles over 113 days. So far (5th December) I've averaged 2.5 miles per day so hopefully will smash the target!

Please help me raise as much as possible.

Thankyou in advance

Andrew