Michael decided to raise some money for Alder Hey’s A&E department and roped in Andrew to help. Many of you will know that Alder Hey have changed Michael’s life beyond recognition. He’s now thriving thanks to Alex, his stoma. The team in the A&E department have played a significant role in helping us get there. We know that part of the hospital well.

Earlier this year, they recognised he urgently needed care from the surgeons when Alex started ‘misbehaving’. The A&E department of any hospital is noisy, stressful, unpredictable. There’s lots of smells and waiting around. It’s hard enough to deal with them when you’re poorly. Add in autism and ADHD (which also make up part of the uniqueness of Michael) and you’ve got a potential recipe for the disaster.

But the staff at Alder Hey are amazing. Their focus is the whole child (and that includes the family). They treat him with compassion and understanding. He wants to give something back.

Michael’s original plan was to race on his game simulator for 12 hours. We couldn’t let him do that (stoma’s aren’t keen on that kind of thing - they need regular maintenance) so he roped in Andrew to help. They’ll each do at least 6 hours in total. It sounds easy. Trust me, it isn’t.

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