My Sisters Erika (left) and Janet on our wedding day
As the question says "why am I cycling from Lands end to John O'Groats".I would like to raise as much money as I can to help the charity Ataxia UK and I am going to explain why below. I am sorry if it is a bit graphic. I found it hard to type to be honest. However I cannot bear to think that other people have to go through what my family endured over the last 25 years without trying to help in some way. Please sponsor me here
I have lost both my beautiful sisters Janet and Erika to a rare form of Ataxia. 10,000 people in the UK suffer from Ataxia. The condition is little understood and has no cure at present. Ataxia is a neurological disorder that affects sufferers to different degrees in many ways. In most cases it affects balance, co-ordination and speech. However in my sisters case it was particularly debilitating. From the age of 14-15 in both Janet and Erika, muscles began to waste so that legs, arms, hands and feet slowly started to fail. Over a period of 10 years walking became impossible, leaving them wheelchair bound. This was followed by losing the ability to hold things such as a cup or a knife and fork. Eventually their speech began to fail and swallowing food became impossible. The simple pleasure of eating became a tube that fed directly into their stomach. This slow degeneration happened over 20+ years until it began to affect their involuntary motor functions (heart and lungs). Ataxia finally took them from us when they were in their early 40's. It is a dreadful condition that was very painful for them and for us to witness.
Ataxia has certainly shaped my family over the years. I believe my sisters determination to fight the condition was an inspiration to me. To see their beaming smiles when I visited, made me realise what really matters in life. Material wealth, all the adornments of modern society mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. What I would have given for them to to have a normal chance at life.
Ataxia UK is a small, entirely contribution based charity with no government assistance. It does an amazing job helping to support the care of sufferers, young and old. They set up and provide ataxia centres and also fund research into finding a cure, which I am sure you will agree is vital. They only have 12 staff so are not over-burdened with costs. They need all the funds they can get to continue their good work. So that is why I am cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats! 1000 miles of cycling doesn't seem that much of an effort when you put it in context. (I will probably regret saying that :))
So I would be very grateful if you could spare a couple of quid. I have set up a just giving site where you can donate. All funds go directly to the charity. Please sponsor me here
I will be blogging on all my training up until May (exact date not finalised) when I set off and during the ride (if I have any energy and a 3G signal)
