Earlswood End 2 Enders

NEW : Follow our progress here including GPS tracks, video & photos:

http://earlswoodend2enders.blogspot.com/

The Challenge –Cycling from Lands End to John O’ Groats in 10 days on May 15^th 2009 – 24^th May 2009 approx 90 miles per day to raise money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital. All money raised will go to the charity as all the riders and support crew are self funding.

My name is Simon Lewis, my fellow riders are Sanj Talwar, Richard Batchelor and Tony Watton who will be completing the full tour. Omar Mahmood, Paul Malpass & Kevin Mulhall will be completing the 300 mile leg through Scotland. John Kelly will be driving the support vehicle & organising the admin.

The reason for us forty somethings undertaking this challenge all started last January when my 9 year old son, Sean was involved in a near fatal car accident in which the driver died, and Sean was rushed to Birmingham Children’s Hospital with serious head and chest injuries. He spent three days in Intensive care, and thanks to the commitment and dedication of the staff he has now made a full recovery.

About two weeks after this tragic event, my sister Jade informed me that her 7 year old daughter Jazmine had been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer called Ewing sarcoma. The prognosis was not good. Over the past 15 months Jazmine has undergone several courses of chemotherapy, she has dealt with all the side effects of this very bravely, and is now facing major surgery this week in order to remove the tumour from her femur. After the operation she will have ongoing treatment and care from the hospital for up to five years in order to ensure the cancer does not return.

Previously to all of this another friend of mine, John Kelly, had his son Vinny admitted to the Children’s Hospital suffering with E Coli which led to Kidney Failure. He spent over a month in the Renal Unit & a few days in intensive care. He has luckily made a reasonable recovery but will need ongoing help from the hospital for years to come. The staff at the hospital were, & continue to be, amazing & John continues to try & support them wherever possible.

When I announced that I was going to ride from Lands End to John o Groats last August ,alone, my friends Richard, Omar, John, Sanj and Tony all immediately offered to ride and/or support the undertaking, which I gladly took them up on- thank God somebody wanted to do it with me!

Little did Tony know when he volunteered last August that his yet to be born granddaughter, Olivia would also be in need of the life saving services of Birmingham Chidren’s Hospital. Olivia was diagnosed with a cystic legion in her right lung due to be removed at approximately a year old. However, unexpectedly at only 3 months old Olivia, took a turn for the worse and was rushed to A and E, a week later a life-saving operation was performed and the majority of her right lung was removed. Olivia was in PICU for 24 hours and then transferred to the neo-natal surgical ward for a week. Thankfully, Olivia has made a full recovery which is down to the fantastic staff and BCH.

Birmingham Children’s Hospital is an amazing institution staffed by outstanding specialists in all fields, without whose help, expertise and commitment the outcome for the above children and countless others would be unthinkable.

So please give whatever you can to support this fantastic hospital, so that it can move forward and improve its facilities and carry on doing what they do best which is saving children’s lives.