Firstly, thank you so much for taking the time to visit my page and donate to such a worthwhile cause that's very dear to me and my family. I can't tell you how grateful I am.

So, here's my story...

I recently plucked up some courage and registered for the London to Paris bike ride taking place this September with the aim of raising some serious cash for COSMIC, which for those of you who don't already know stands for "Children Of St. Mary's Intensive Care".

Amelia, my 3 year old Daughter, spent a few weeks in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington after contracting Group B Streptococcus, a very nasty strain of bacterial Meningitis, when she was just 10 weeks old. She was in a very bad way and after being rushed in by emergency ambulance was soon on life support receiving round the clock treatment from the incredible team at St Mary's. It was a very difficult time for all my family, as you can imagine.

Thankfully Amelia responded well to treatment and survived her ordeal. Remarkably, she surpassed everyone’s expectations (including the Doctors who were treating her) by eventually making a full recovery. She’s now a very happy, healthy, cheeky, normal 3 year old girl. We owe everything to the staff at St. Mary's and will be forever in their debt. Not only did they save Amelia's life, they also provided incredible support to my partner and I whilst she was in their care. COSMIC even paid for local hotel rooms for us whilst Amelia was in the PICU which meant we could always be near her and the staff were always on hand to lend a sympathetic ear if we had any questions, concerns, or just needed a shoulder to cry on.

Compared to what Amelia went through during her time on the PICU, cycling to Paris should be a walk in the park. It's the very least I can do for COSMIC and will go some way to saying thank you.

So, enough of the talking, I better get myself into gear and get training then I suppose. Someone pass me a soft cushion, please...! :-)

Cheers,

John