Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. On Friday 13  July 2018 I will be swimming with Michael and my sister Helen in memory of our mum who died from cancer 10 years ago in 2008.

Whilst I had a lucky escape and tested negative to the FAP gene, Helen unfortunately inherited it from mum. This has meant that she’s had two major bowel surgeries over the past 10 years and she has to have 6-monthly screening for the rest of her life to prevent her from developing cancer. It is likely that if mum’s condition had been properly managed then she would have been alive today (read Helen's page for the full background). This is why funding the work of the Polyposis Registry of St. Mark's Hospital is so important to and why I would really appreciate your sponsorship support for this event.

As anyone who knows me, I’m a bit of a sucker for physical challenges – from more normal things like cycling, swimming and running through to events like Man vs Mountain that no sane person would sign up for! Whilst a sea swim may sound pretty normal to many people, especially as I’m a strong swimmer, I don’t actually live near the sea and until recently had never done any open water swimming. Yes, why not support my sister and sign-up for a sea swim?!

On 25 April in a borrowed wetsuit (with way too much pink on it for my liking!) I had my first open water swim at a local marina. Boy was it cold and it took me longer than expected to get acclimatised, but then I really enjoyed it and found it quite liberating. In May I bought my own wetsuit, which amusingly enough is the non-girly version of the same one Helen bought. I’m now 100% committed – Tenby here I come!

I've managed to fit in a flying visit to Brighton to fit in one sea swim with Helen before Tenby, so watch this space for an update...

Thank you for reading this and for your support!

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