Like so many people, I didn't really know much about strokes. I didn't understand what they were and what effects they have. I thought it was something that only affects the old and unhealthy. I was very very wrong.
Strokes can happen to anybody, any age, any fitness, any race. It does not distinguish between how much money you have, how good of a person you are or what your religion is. When it strikes, it strikes without warning, without prejudice and without mercy.
Since helping at ARNI I have seen that when a stroke happens, right from its first attack the odds are stacked against you. If you survive, life as you know it will be permanently changed, learning how to speak, sit, walk and understand. Help outside of hospital is so hard to come by and so many people just needlessly decline.
What a waste. I wanted to try and do what I could to balance the odds for people around me.
This lead me onto putting together a Fundraiser. We talked over some great ideas, and then my life as a former soldier came into the equation. Mountember was then born. The idea: take something simple, and make it hard. So, walking is simple for most people, how about people with stroke. NOT so simple. How about walking up a mountain? Impossible? Perhaps... could it be done?
With rehabilitation, preparation, preparation and preparation, it can be,
OUR CHALLENGE IS THIS: We will be walking up Pen–Y–Fan in Wales, Mt Snowdon in North Wales, Scafell Pike in The Lake District and Ben Nevis in Scotland. Each Sunday in September we will tackle one of these peaks, working our way up the country.
Stroke survivors will be accompanied by their coaches, trainers, helpers and friends and medics. Training has been tough, outside hill training, using step machines inside and lots of other work.We have spent weeks
planning the routes, logistics, setting up the social media and just giving
pages along with insurances, T-shirts, organising venues etc.
Our goal is to raise £4,000 for A.R.N.I and with that they will be able to train more physios and instructors to carry on real-life rehabilitation across the U.K. and further afield.
Help us to help those that have beaten the odds, already -
help them live and thrive rather than just survive.
PLEASE SPONSOR US!!!
