Story
In September 2016, I, Peter McCleave; 39 years old, father to Max and Seb, husband to Jenny and all round decent chap (well, I am writing this!) completed Ironman Wales. Two days after the race, I found myself in the Countess of Chester hospital with an unpleasant concoction of Pneumonia, Legionnaires and Sepsis. Four months after this episode, I was diagnosed with an incurable blood cancer called Myeloma and given seven years to live - unless I could find myself a matching blood stem cell donor.
The Reaction:
Moping about was going to help nobody, so I picked myself up and focused on what was in my control; that measly number of donors on the Registry. I started the 10000 Donors campaign with the aim of making blood stem cells as available to those in need of a transplant, as aspirin. We smashed our initial target in six months. So now we carry on.
The Challenge:
On the 6th September 2019, Team 10000 Donors will be participating in the Crumball Rally Italian Job route. We have to get our bangers from Reims in northern France to Nice via the Alps, Turin and Monaco. The team will then be taking the cars up to Germany, where DKMS were founded, to continue the campaign.
We have 3 aims:
1. To raise awareness of blood cancer, blood stem cell donations and get as many people as we can to register as potential donors. New target is 100000
2. To raise as much money as we can for DKMS whose mission is to provide a matching donor for every blood cancer patient in need of a stem cell donation
3. To have a damn good time because, well, thats what its all about right?