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<span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"> Hello and thanks for visiting my fundraising page! I'm taking part in a Coast 2 Coast challenge - 28 July to 3 August 2011, Tynemouth to Whitehaven to Tynemouth. Across the width of mainland UK and back again, 280 miles, in a week. Sores and blisters are a given, let alone the dreaded chafe! But it's all in aid of an amazing charity - The Children's Heart Unit Fund (CHUF). More below... Details I’ll be leaving on July 28 to cycle 140 miles, travelling East to West, arriving in Whitehaven two days later where myself and the team of fundraisers will promptly turn round and run the 140 miles back to Tynemouth over the remaining five days. 70 of miles cycling a day for the first two days, before ditching the bikes and running over a marathon a day (28 miles to be exact!) for five consecutive days on the way back. And I’m a bit worried. I consider myself a fairly fit and determined bloke but this is daunting!! I’ve run marathons before, climbed Kilimanjaro however this is without doubt going to be one of the biggest physical challenges of my life to date.  But I and the team are pushing ourselves to the limit for very good reason - The Children's Heart Unit at the Freeman Hospital and for Seb, the son of a very good friend of mine. So please dig deep and donate what you can to an incredibly worthwhile cause, if only to make up for my pain and physical humiliation come the 3 August. YOU WON’T REGRET IT!  More information is below on the amazing work they do every day at the Children's Heart Unit is below:  The Children's Heart Unit at the Freeman Hospital Around 300 small babies and children are operated on each year by the children’s heart surgeons at the Freeman Hospital. Heart problems, including Tetralogy of Fallot, which Seb was diagnosed with, are among the most common types of abnormality found in newborn babies. Many of them are tiny infants who, up until a few years ago, would not have survived. Out of 33,000 babies born in the Northern region each year, around 300 will require surgery and many more will require medical or outpatient treatment in the Children’s Heart Unit (Ward 23). Not all children are born with heart disease. Viruses can severely weaken the heart and cause it to fail. The Freeman Hospital is one of only 2 hospitals in the UK that performs children’s heart transplants and that use mechanical hearts to keep these children alive until their heart either recovers or can be transplanted. Since 1987 over 250 children have received a transplant. Because of the special expertise at the Freeman Hospital, children are referred from Ireland, Scotland and many hospitals throughout England. On a rare occasion, they may even be referred from overseas. For more information about the children’s charity CHUF, visit <a href="http://www.chuf.org.uk/">www.chuf.org.uk</a> <span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;"> and Seb4CHUF <a href="http://www.seb4chuf.org.uk/index.html">http://www.seb4chuf.org.uk/index.html</a><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;"> .

Ben Shephard's Page

Ben Shephard's Page

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