During lockdown our family had some devastating news. My  wonderful, selfless, loving and caring sister Ildiko was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND or ALS in the States). This is a terminal diagnosis and also the same sh*tty disease our father died of in 2011.

Ildiko has spent her life dedicated to the care of others as an NHS doctor looking after the sick and vulnerable. She has spent a good deal of this career as a consultant paediatrician specialising
in the care of terminally ill children. I once asked her why she chose this difficult area and she said that she’d felt that families weren’t often supported through this difficult time and that she could do her bit in making it a little more manageable.

When I was a little boy and Ildiko had only recently qualified as a doctor, I have a very vivid memory of her taking me to a ward she was working on and showing me some of the premature babies under her care. I was amazed and since then she has always been my hero!

She recieved this diagnosis after only recently returned to work at Queen Elizabeth’s hospital, London after recovering from Coronavirus. There she was volunteering to support colleagues helping other Coronavirus patients in the Intensive Care Unit wherever possible.

She has given her life selflessly in the support of others and this is just my small attempt to raise some funds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

My challenge

So I'm going to attempt to train and manage to jump high enough to slam dunk a basketball. I'm 6ft and the basket is 10ft. This isn't going to be easy and is likely to take a few months of hard graft. At 43 I'm going to try and do the thing my 18yr old self never could.

I honestly don't know if it's possible or whether my body will even get close. I'm going to give it my best shot though!

I'm going to update this page with measurements of what the challenge will entail, videos and pictures of my gradual and no doubt painful  progress. All I know is at the moment I can just about touch the string at the bottom of the basket if I try really really really hard.

Please wish me luck and sponsor me in this endeavour as it will be raising money for an amazing cause!