Dominic Lynch
Dominic's Costa Rica Coast2Coast 2020
Fundraising for Borne
Story
Borne is an incredible charity founded by Professor Mark Johnson. The charity researches into the causes of pre-term birth – the leading cause of infant mortality in children under the age of five around the world today. 15 million babies are born too soon every year and over 1 million die. This costs the NHS alone over £3 billion a year and prolonging pregnancy that delivers by one week would save the NHS £260 million a year. Professor Mark Johnson is a world-leading expert in this field and some of his recent trials have shown exceptionally promising results.
In support of this extraordinary work I will be joining Will Greenwood, Dean Mumm and some seriously experienced ex-special forces chaps on a rarely used jungle route as we trek, cycle and raft coast to coast in Costa Rica. This is no ordinary challenge and no ordinary coast-to-coast. We will be taking an extreme route – cycling up mountains, trekking through dense jungle and shooting grade 5 rapids to reach the Pacific Ocean. I hate spiders, I hate snakes and I especially hate asking for money…… but please, please, please dig deep to support this amazing cause - we are aiming to raise £250,000 for this vital work!!! The entire trip is self-funded so every penny goes to the charity.
Why do we support Borne?
When Katherine and I had our second child we met Mark Johnson's colleague, Natasha Singh - a clinical scientist for Borne and consultant obstetrician. We were so impressed with the care we received and felt so lucky to have had a relatively simple birth that we wanted to support Borne’s work. Fast forward a year and a colleague's wife was pregnant with their second child. Their first child had been born at 32 weeks. Three years later he may still have regular check-ups but without the exceptional care he received in a level III hospital, along with a bit of luck, his chances of survival would have been extremely low. During their second pregnancy my colleague and his wife joined an experimental trial funded by Borne. Despite some complications and months of bed rest their second child was born fit and well in June 2018. Overall the trial proved a great success and highlights the incredible work being done by Borne to limit pre-term birth.
Katherine and I also have friends who were not so lucky. They lost twins to pre-term birth and we witnessed the terrible pain and suffering this caused. It has made us all the more passionate about the work Borne is doing.
Please use gift-aid if you can and dig deep for this incredible charity - I know I will.
Thank you for supporting me and Borne! To find out more, please visit www.borne.org.uk
