Hi everyone, I can’t quite believe we are going to do this challenge, this will not only test our strength and be an amazing achievement in a beautiful part of the world but we also get to support a really great and interesting charity which is doing valuable work for the families and research around an illness which is still fairly unknown.  Thank you so much to everyone for all your support

The challenge we are going to be undertaking is 24 peaks in 24 hours in the Lake District. We are going to be starting at Stool End in the early morning and make our way over Scarfell pike through to Buttermere, roughly 25km. We then drive across to Kirkstone pass and go over Helvellyn to rovebeck fold, 24km finishing at hopefully around 11pm.

As many of you know my family has always loved walking in the mountains. The thought of a relaxing holiday was never in our repertoire throughout my childhood.  I have been climbing mountains for as long as i can remember and this is all down to the encouragement and drive from my parents. They have taught us so much and are my inspiration to reach new heights and to challenge myself to do bigger and better things.

Throughout my childhood I remember my dad used to entertain us constantly on the way up the mountains by playing games, giving us maths challenges along the way about Mrs hedgehog and Mr frog and the endless games of ‘im thinking of a Harry Potter character’.

In late 2017 my dad was diagnosed with Miller Fisher syndrome which is a variant of Guillain-Barré.
This condition is an autoimmune disease in which it causes the person’s body to attack their nerves resulting in abnormal muscle coordination, respiratory failure, paralysis and weakness in the eye muscles and the absence of the tendon reflexes. My dads condition deteriorated quickly after being admitted to hospital and he was admitted to ICU. Suddenly my dad couldn’t do anything he
used to love doing and suddenly our whole life changed.

I am walking this challenge for my dad who has been an absolute trouper throughout this whole
experience, I remember travelling down to his hospital bed from NEWCASTLE to BRISTOL
and finding out that he had been sedated in the ICU as his breathing had deteriorated. Seeing my dad in this condition was absolutely heart breaking as he had always been the strong independent and driven guy who carried me and my siblings up those mountains all those years ago.   

Whilst visiting my dad the doctors managed to reduce the sedation so much he was able to move 1
hand into a thumbs up to communicate. This made me realise how amazing and strong
my dad was. He fought this disease and managed to beat it. Throughout this whole experience seeing my dad move his thumb was a huge turning point and for me it showed me that he was still there and he wasn’t going to let this disease stop him. Over 6 weeks my dad started to recover and he started to improve.  

He has done amazingly well and is now able to do almost all he could do before. I took around 6 months for my dad to recover fully however some people may experience lasting effects resulting in never fully recovering. Seeing him fight this disease gave me an even stronger drive to challenge myself and I can make him proud.

GAIN is the national organisation in the UK and Republic of Ireland dedicated to helping people affected by these conditions. Guillain-Barré syndrome is a rare autoimmune condition affecting the peripheral nervous system, usually leading to temporary or long-term paralysis. Around 80% of those with GBS will make a good recovery, but between 5-10% of people will not survive and the other
10-15% may be left with severe mobility or dexterity issues. Chronic variants such as CIDP are similar but longer-lasting, requiring ongoing treatment.

GAIN helps people understand and manage acute and chronic variants of the syndrome, raises
awareness, and promotes clinical and non-clinical research into these conditions. This is an expensive commitment and they rely solely on voluntary donations, people organising and taking part in events to raise funds for the charity, and income from legacies. For every £1 Gain receives, 91p is spent on fulfilling their charitable objectives.