Thank you for visiting my fundraising page.

This year I’m swimming the English Channel as part of Team Aspire Pandas alongside five wonderful swimmers: Helen Devlin, Folly Golding, Rachel Honey, Jane Sawyer, Helen Towers and our reserve, Suzie Bennett. Together we’re raising money for Aspire, a charity supporting people who are paralysed through spinal cord injury, helping them rebuild their lives from injury to independence.

Aspire is an incredible cause, but I’d also like to share why this challenge means so much to me.

When I was 19, I sustained life-changing injuries after being hit and dragged under a lorry driven by a drink-driver. I spent months in hospital and had to learn to walk again. My left leg, hip, pelvis and neck were permanently damaged.

Over the years, the way I walked put increasing strain on my body, and I later developed rheumatoid arthritis and back pain. I’ve undergone multiple surgeries across several decades, including three major operations six years ago to save my leg from amputation. Thanks to pioneering treatment at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, I got my independence — and my life — back. Aspire has strong links with this remarkable hospital and is based on the same site.

Walking remains difficult, and I live with chronic pain every day. But in 2021, I discovered cold-water swimming. For the first time in years, I found freedom, a way to manage my pain, and a passion for open-water swimming.

Swimming the English Channel has been a dream of mine for years. By taking on this challenge, I hope not only to fulfil that dream but also to raise money to help others regain their independence and rebuild their lives.

Please consider sponsoring me as I attempt one of the toughest challenges in open-water swimming. Without a wetsuit, we’ll swim in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, battling changing sea temperatures, tides, currents, wind, rain and darkness. Along the way there may be jellyfish, seals, dolphins and plenty of unexpected challenges. I’ll face fatigue, cramp, seasickness and the relentless conditions of the Channel.

If you’d like to join me on a training swim, I’d love to have you along. I promise you’ll be warmly welcomed, and you may even discover a new perspective.

Thank you for your support.

Sylvia