Climbing the Wall for Epilepsy

I know this is a bit of a long bit of blurb but I'd really appriciate it if you took the time to understand why I decided to take up this challenge and why I chose Epilepsy Action as the charity to support...

As I guess many of you already know but many of you don’t, in 2007 my life changed forever - I gave birth to Ruby, a beautiful baby girl who, it seemed, was perfect.  Later that year after some concerns with her health Ruby was diagnosed with an Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM).  This basically means that she has a tangle of veins and arteries in her brain where normal brain tissue should be.  She was admitted to hospital in September 2007 where she suffered several prolonged seizures and a brain haemorrhage.  In October of the same year she underwent high risk surgery to embolise the malformation.

Whilst it seems that the risk of further inter cranial bleeds is low, post-surgery Ruby has been left with a number of neurological conditions; Cerebral Palsy, Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Epilepsy. Ruby faces many challenges daily, both physically and emotionally, and copes magnificently with these conditions. She does however still have regular seizures that are yet to be controlled effectively.

Ruby is now under the care of Great Ormond Street Hospital where she has spent a week having tests (video telemetry) and we are now waiting to see f she is suitable for epilepsy surgery.

In additional to the daily struggle those with epilepsy face, sadly there are around 1000 Epilepsy related deaths in the UK each year caused either by accidents caused by seizures or by SUDEP (Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy).

For many years I have contemplated undertaking a challenge to raise awareness and funds for a charity related to Ruby’s conditions and now the time seems right so I have signed up to trek the Great Wall of China in April 2016 in aid of Epilepsy Action.

Epilepsy Action is the UKs leading Epilepsy Charity who exist to improve the lives of everyone affected by epilepsy.  They do this by ensuring that all people with epilepsy have specialist healthcare and treatment for their condition and can lead their lives free of stigma, prejudice and discrimination.  They also run various campaigns to improve epilepsy healthcare and services, locally, UK-wide and internationally.  

The trek will take place in April 2016, and will be 7 days of trekking a stretch of 80km along the Great Wall.  Again, for those who know me well, physical activity has never been anywhere near the top of my agenda so I can foresee some personal challenges to overcome on the way and while I’ve never been too afraid of “roughing it” staying in a combination of remote mountain “hotels” and farmers houses is likely to push my boundaries somewhat!

So over the next 15 or so months I will not only be training for the physical and mental challenge of travelling half way round challenge and claiming along a massive wall with none of the comforts of home but I’ll also be relentlessly fundraising to reach my goal of £5000 for Epilepsy Action who are supporting me in my challenge and have funded the expedition. Please don’t get annoyed with me – remember why I’m doing what I’m doing and if possible support me in my cause and we can all contribute to a bright, healthy, stigma free future for those with epilepsy.