A close family friend Robin Dobie was diagnosed with motor neurones disease (MND) in July 2012. Rob is 38 years old and was a Police Officer for the Greater Manchester Police. Rob is married and they have two children. When I heard the devastating news about Rob I decided to set myself a challenge to raise money for Rob and his family, in particular to help them through the tough times ahead, and for MNDA to help raise awareness of the disease. (MNDA registered charity 294354)

 

What is MND? If you can imagine a healthy and alert mind trapped inside a body that can’t move, but can still think and feel, that’s the devastating reality of MND.  MND is a rapidly progressive, fatal disease.  It attacks the motor neurones that send messages from the brain to the muscles, leaving people unable to walk, talk or feed themselves.   Around 5,000 people in the UK have MND at any one time.  With no cure, half die within 14 months of diagnosis, life expectancy for most people with MND is just two to five years. The MND Association will fund and promote research to bring about an end to MND. Until then, it will do all that it can to enable everyone with MND to receive the best care, achieve the highest quality of life possible, and die with dignity.  The MND Association will also do all that it can to support the families and carers of people with MND.

 

To help raise the necessary funds I decided back in August 2012 to attempt to swim across the English Channel from Dover to Calais. It will be a solo swim attempt under the strict rules of the Channel Swimming Association.http://www.channelswimmingassociation.com  

 

I will be wearing 8cm swim briefs, a swim cap and a pair of goggles. I will be guided across the Channel by my pilots the Brickell brothers and their fishing vessel the ‘Viking Princess’ (as pictured below)

 

I will attempt the crossing on a specified day during the period of the 29July – 10August 2013, weather conditions pending, and I will be accompanied by my experienced support team consisting of my Wife, Mark Whittaker, Dan Preedy & Jon Bowden. The Channel swim is 21 miles long and is classed as the ‘Everest of swimming, the main risk associated with Channel swimming is hypothermia. The water temperature will vary from 12deg to 16deg. I will be faced with other challenges such as sewage, jelly fish, tides & one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, with over 600 vessels & 200 ferries passing through every day.

I am hoping to complete the challenge in approximately 14 hours and it will take around 50,000 strokes to get me across the Channel!

 

I am currently training 17 hours a week and covering approximately 30 miles per week. The majority of my training is done at the DW Fitness club in Blackburn where, Angie and her team have been very accommodating, a big thank you goes out to them, they have been superb! My open water swimming is mainly done in Salford Quays & Boundary Water Park. These venues are fantastic and operated by David Quartermain and his team. https://www.uswimopenwater.com/

 

My aim is to try and raise £50,000 and I really do need your support to help me to achieve this target. If you would like to sponsor me please donate via my just giving page below or alternatively donations can be made via cheque made payable to ‘MNDA Channel Swim’ and can be posted direct to Gary Morton, DW Sports Ltd, Whelco Place, Enfield Industrial Estate, Enfield Street, Pemberton, Wigan, Lancashire WN5 8DB

 

http://www.justgiving.com/GEMortonMNDA.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read my letter and please, please ‘dig deep’, any amount is greatly appreciated.

 

Kind regards & best wishes

GaryMorton