Richard Townsend
Richard's Sky Dive
Fundraising for Endometriosis UK
Story
So, Why a sky dive at 12,000 ft? Well I wanted to do something that I would not find easy and something that would really challenge me. Although I did a static line jump at 3,000 ft when I was 19 (a long, long time ago) I found it utterly terrifying and promised myself I would never do anything so "stupid" again.
Until now! Thanks to MIH Property Management (the company I work for) who has very generously decided to sponsor me (and take Endometriosis UK as their charity for the year) and pay for the jump.
But now I am going an extra 9,000 ft. Why? Watching someone you love suffer with an incurable disease is incredibly hard, particularly when it is your child. so anything I can do to raise funds for this worthwhile charity that aims to:
- Help people overcome the impact endometriosis can have on individual lives
- For everyone to have the right to fast, appropriate care, support and treatment
- For all of society to fully understand endometriosis and its impact and to be aware of the work of Endometriosis UK
- Here is a link to Endometriosis UK
https://endometriosis-uk.org/
However no one can put this better than Rebekah herself, so when asked "How has Endometriosis affected you?" this was her reply:
However no one can put this better than Rebekah herself, so when asked "How has Endometriosis affected you?" this was her reply:
Endometriosis has changed the way I live my life and my
prospective on life.
Unfortunately, I started getting symptoms when I was at
performing arts college when I was just 17 and by the week before my 18th birthday I had received surgery after being diagnosed with stage 4
endometriosis. I had to finish the exams and coursework for my course at home as I was bed bound due to the pain until my surgery, further more due to the continual pain I was forced to stop dancing completely after.
For me this was very upsetting as I have been dancing since a very young age and a dream of mine was to travel the world and perform on cruise ships. Even now just over 2 years later and I still would no be able to fulfil that dream as I have daily symptoms and side effects which leave me very sick and I have treatment once a month in hospital.
Because of my endometriosis I can get exhausted from doing
the smallest thing so a full day at a shopping centre can actually make me very sick. I get fatigue, nausea and migraines and have to rest in bed the whole next day just from being out all day before.
I have to plan everything I do because if I’m out in the day
I most likely will not have the energy to go out at night, and I have to time when I take my medicines and when I eat as I have a lot of digestive problems, so if I go out for lunch I know I will not be able to eat diner as I will still feel very full and nausea until I go to sleep. This means that most days I can’t each lunch and make sure I have at least two good meals a day, breakfast and dinner.
The worst part for me is the chronic pain as I get that almost every day, but I have learned to live with it and just get on with normal day jobs. For me this has completely changed my perspective on life, compared to before I got sick. Before I would be doing less in my day, ie. getting up at midday on the weekend and just being lazy (after all I was only 17). However now, even though I live with chronic pain I make the most out of my days, and try not to be so hard on myself for getting through the little things which most people would do without thinking like your commitment to work, but for me it can become very difficult, painful and exhausting.
So please join me and support both Rebekah and Endometriosis UK.