The Challenge!!!!!!!

Walk - The Highest Peaks in England, Scotland, Wales

Distance - 23 miles

Total Ascent - 10,052 ft

Drive Distance - 462 miles

Time - 24h

The Reason!!!!!!

Jacob "J"

Why?????

To help fund stem cell treatment.

Nine year old J is the oldest son of our close family friends Justin and Michelle. J was born premature at 30 weeks. In his first two days, he suffered a bilateral pneumothorax, a rare condition that occurs when both lungs collapse due to air in the pleural space. From this, at such a young age, J was in critical care for the first few weeks of his life. Little did Justin and Michelle know that at just 7 weeks old, they found out J had suffered from Periventricular leukomalacia, a brain injury that affects the white matter surrounding the brain's ventricles. As a result, this developed into quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy.

As a result, J has very little control over all four limbs, needs full use of a wheelchair, and requires home adaptations to help him get around. He is also non-verbal and partially sighted.

But let me tell you, this doesn't stop the boy from giving me the biggest smile and laughing at my bad jokes when I see him.

So why am I fundraising?

For people who know me, you will be aware of our recent news following our eldest son Joshua's diagnosis. The support as a family that Justin and Michelle have given us is something hard to put into words.

As a " bloke," talking is sometimes difficult, but what has helped is just going for a walk with my mate Justin, who understands it, and if needed, we can sound off to each other and hopefully feel a bit lighter (of course, a pint at the end helps).

But when Joshua needed some support, Justin stepped up, so now it is my turn to walk a few hills, in a few countries. Oh yeah, and within 24 hours!!!!!!!!

The Treatment!

I hope to raise as much money as possible to help pay for stem cell treatment in America. This is a regenerative therapy that has the potential to replace damaged and non-functional cells in the brain, as well as provide support to the remaining neurons and oligodendrocytes brain development.

The hope from this treatment is that increasing the number of healthy stem cells could improve J's functionality and brain development, which Justin and Michelle hope will increase his range of movement, improve vision, be in less pain and support his ability to communicate.