Most of you guys on the forum know me, we've probably met up at various meets in the past. For anyone that doesn't I've been on the forum for a number of years now, do my best to help make the place fun, plus I've not turned to the dark side, or dark pump, GTI FTW!!
Most of you are aware that in January my girlfriend and I had our first beautiful baby girl, Myla, weighing 4lb 4.5ozs. She was premature at just 36 weeks due to some complications in the pregnancy. We were incredibly lucky as she was able to take care of herself, didn't require any special medical treatment and came home after 4 days. Shortly after we found out we were pregnant my friend Jerome found out that he and his wife were expecting as well. We were really excited, often sharing our experiences and any tips that we had learnt along the way. They gave birth to their gorgeous little baby boy in February, Grayson. He was also premature due to complications , 34 weeks, weighing just 3lbs.
Unfortunately that is where the similarities end. He was doing very well, but 7 days later they discovered that he had
necrotising enterocolitis, a devastating bowel disorder that mainly strikes in premature babies. By the time he was diagnosed it was too mate. He passed away shortly after, just 7 days old.
It's effected me in a big way. Partly because I've been devastated for the loss of my friends baby, a poor innocent little thing that was never given a chance. But over time I've realised that our babies were only 2 weeks apart. There was a 3% chance our angel could have developed the disorder, and that scared me. To be honest I've struggled to think about much else in the past week or so.
However, I've decided that instead of looking back on everything I want to take this experience and move forward in a positive way. I don't want to just sit around when I know I could do something to help others in the future when this disorder occurs.
So.....
A good friend of mine Greg Bolshaw and I have just registered to take part in the
Motoscape Rally 2012. It's a 7 day rally starting just south of Calais on 1st September 2012 and finishing 7 days later in Prague, Czech Republic.
We're doing this to try to raise money for
Action Medical Research. The reason for this is they're currently researching necrotising enterocolitis. Their aim is to develop techniques/apparatus that will allow the disorder to be detected much earlier. That way babies can be treated before it is too late. They also research a range of other conditions, it's a very worth while cause.
It's a banger rally so we need to get hold of a car with a value up to £333, then drive it 1,600 miles to Prague! this is where I'm hoping you guys could help out.
We need a car.We're going to be keeping our eyes on local papers, Auto Trader and eBay, but there's nothing like the power of having hundreds of people throughout the country.
The ideal scenario would be if we could get a car for free, perhaps if someone has a car that they're just scrapping, or knows someone else that has, that is willing to help out. Of course if needs be we'll pay for a car, but getting a working car for about £300 is definitely a challenge. We're looking for pretty much
anything, all cars will be considered. Diesel would be best if possible, and it needs to either have an MOT that expires after September 2012, or wouldn't need much work doing to it to obtain an MOT.
As mentioned the aim of this is to raise as much money as Possible for Action. We're going to be looking to take donations, and also hoping to work our some sponsorship deals with varies companies, whereby we swap advertising space for donations.
Apologies that this is such a long post, but there was a lot to be said. Any help people can give us would be fantastic, I promise you that it's for a good cause.
Please click here to donateThank you
