PLEASE NOTE DATES FOR TREK HAVE CHANGED 26th March 2022

Welcome to my fundraising page for taking part in a 100km trek across the Sahara Desert.

We will hike up to 8 hours a day including climbing, various terrain and humidity.Your donations will not only support my fundraising target, but most importantly CoppaFeel!, who are on a mission to stamp out the late diagnosis of breast cancer by making sure that young people are regularly checking their boobs and know their bodies to be able to have the confidence to see their GP if something just doesn't feel normal. Thanks so much for your donation & support. To find out more about CoppaFeel! head to www.coppafeel.org.

So let me introduce myself properly.
Hello! (insert lady waving emoji) My name is Tina and I am a 34 year old mother of 2 from Llanelli, South Wales. I am currently studying Occupational Therapy in Cardiff University and can be found most evenings knee deep in washing, assignments and trying to remember where I put the remote. Spoiler alert… its usually wedged down the side of the sofa.
A few weeks ago, whilst scrolling through Instagram during a particularly exciting episode of Peppa Pig (the one where daddy pig can’t find his blueprint, you know the one), I noticed Giovanna Fletcher’s video where she was talking about this year’s Coppafeel! challenge. I remember seeing all the footage and following the stories from last year’s trek and there was always a part of me that thought what an incredible thing to be a part of and for such a wonderful cause.

I count myself incredibly lucky that I have (so far) gone through my life and been relatively healthy (I had my tonsils out a few years ago but they gave me ice cream and Oramorph so I can’t really complain), but a while ago I realised something, cancer has affected me. Not directly, but it has affected me. A few years ago we lost a family member to cancer and at the moment the mother of a good friend of mine is in treatment for breast cancer- thankfully she is an incredible woman and fighting really hard. As I have gotten older I have found out that people around me have survived cancer and that some have lost close friends and family to cancer. It seems to be something that connects people and that’s never left me.

6 years ago, I started a job in my local hospital (shout out to the Prince Philip Hospital in Llanelli) as a physiotherapy support worker and I am currently a third-year student occupational therapist (green has always been more my colour 😉). In my very short time within healthcare I have been lucky enough to meet some incredible people (patients, colleagues and friends) and been privileged to hear their stories. It’s in these moments I have realised 2 things:
1.    That cancer is a part of so many people’s lives
2.    That I wish I could do something to help
My wonderful aunty Barbara was a breast cancer nurse for many years and I have always been inspired by her compassion, understanding and how she gave her patients her undivided care and support. Years ago, she told me that the only way to identify changes early enough is by getting to know my body, and this is the same message shared by Coppafeel!.
So, when this opportunity came up, I applied without hesitation.
Hesitation has come now when I have actually been offered a place and the ENORMITY of this challenge has hit me square in my stupid, naïve, face!
Let me give you some facts:
I am unfit. I am overweight. I am studying for a degree. I travel 100 miles a day to get to uni. I have 2 children. I have a husband (he’s a little more self-sufficient than the children though to be fair). I have never owned a pair of hiking boots. I have an irrational fear of travelling on my own- especially abroad. And I have the palest skin of any human I know, and I’m not entirely convinced even my trusty factor 50 will save me in the sodding desert!
But also:
I am not unwell. I am not having chemotherapy. I am not awaiting test results. I am not awake at night thinking about someone I love who is unwell. I am not travelling to a hospital daily to see someone I care about. I am not sick with worry about a lump I have found or because my hair is falling out.
I’m not any of these things. Well, not right this second. But I could be, I could be at any point. Without warning and with full force. And so could you!
So, this is why I am doing this trek. This is why I will push myself so far out of my comfort zone that my comfort zone will be a dot to me (one for the Friends fans out there). This is why I will train harder than I have trained before/ ever at all. This is why I will try and raise as much money as I can. This is why I will do lots of things that absolutely terrify me.
Because today I can. Some people aren’t that lucky.