Well 2011 is finally here and it is time to update you on the next challenge I have ahead of me. This will be the third such challenge after swimming the English Channel as a relay team and last year’s extreme triathlon.
The 2011 challenge will be quite different as I will be travelling to Norway on the 17th of April to start a 7 day husky sledding adventure which will cover 250km and end up at the ice hotel in Sweden. This challenge was the brainchild of my wife Jay who I am pleased to say will be accompanying me.
We can encounter temperatures as low as -30°C and will each be responsible for our own pack of six husky dogs that we will have to care for throughout the trip. Accommodation will consist of a tent as we will be camping out in the Arctic wilderness. This will most definitely be a no frills adventure.
The purpose of the trip will be to raise money for the Wexham Hospital Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) which is a charity that is extremely close to both myself and my wife's heart. In August 2010 our twin daughters Ashley and Jessica were born extremely prematurely and sadly passed away only days after birth. The SCBU unit cared for our daughters from birth and the level of care and supported offered was first class.
It was the first time that I had ever encountered such a place within a hospital and to be honest I was unaware that places with this level of care even existed. The standard of care that our daughters received was exceptional as was the professionalism and compassion of the staff. The cost of the care and the associated equipment is eye wateringly expensive. Vital machinery, including incubators and ventilator equipment costs tens of thousands of pounds and the unit is limited by the amount of babies it can help by the number of machines and level of equipment it has on site.
It was the first time that I had ever encountered such a place within a hospital and to be honest I was unaware that places with this level of care even existed. The standard of care that our daughters received was exceptional as was the professionalism and compassion of the staff. The cost of the care and the associated equipment is eye wateringly expensive. Vital machinery, including incubators and ventilator equipment costs tens of thousands of pounds and the unit is limited by the amount of babies it can help by the number of machines and level of equipment it has on site.
Shortly after our experience we both decided that in order for our sad experience to have at least one positive outcome we would raise money for SCBU with the aim that the money raised would be put forward for new equipment in the hope that more vital machinery could be purchased and therefore more people helped.
The SCBU is not a place for the faint hearted but I fail to see how anybody who has ever walked into such a unit could not be emotionally touched by the great work that takes place there. You never know when you, fmaily or friends may need their vital services and skills and the money we raise will be utilised for more much needed equipment.
The entire cost of our trip has been self-funded meaning that every penny raised will go directly to the SCBU charity. All donations (no matter how small) will be received extremely gratefully. The link is below to our Just Giving page…
Thanks for taking the time to read the above, I will be updating this page with regular updates on our training for the challenge and will try to send it round every few weeks If you want to check in with what we have been up to.
Thanks again for reading and your support
Chris and Jay
