Charity

Alisha's 10 mile(!) run in memory of Tom Reid

Hello, and thanks for logging onto this page!

For a while now, I've been looking for a fundraising event which I can participate in, in order to support both CRY and the incredible Reid family.

Antony, Halina and Alex Reid have a goal of raising £10,000 in Tom's memory. And, whilst they are doing fantastically from their own money-raising initiatives, I thought I could assist them on the way to their target - after all, every little helps!

Tom had a heart condition which went undetected for 19 years. Whilst he and I were in a club in London during UCL Freshers' week '09, something entirely trivial caused him to go into cardiac arrest - the bass of the music. Despite the best efforts of an on-site medic, paramedics and UCH staff, Tom's life could not be saved.

As well as this tragedy impacting hugely upon the lives of Tom's family, friends, colleagues and aquaintances, it also served as a 'wake-up call' to many things: the insensitive reporting used to account for teenage fatalities (press coverage blamed alcohol/drug abuse - since the post mortem, where Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome, or 'SADS', was recorded as the true cause of death, such allegations have been rightfully retracted), and the fact that young people are not 'invincible', as we'd all like to believe.

To learn more about CRY and their mission, please scroll over the link to the left - they are an amazing charity which offers invaluable support and resources. They also offer information about SADS - a little known about conditon which devastates 12 families per week in Britain - and heart screening advice, as well as counselling for bereaved people, links to new research and a list of further contacts.

So, for my first fundraising event, I am participating in BUPA's Great South Run in October - a challenge which I may well regret, seeing as running is not my forte and the thought of running 10 miles run is enough to give me nightmares! However, I have 4 amazing friends who will be accompanying me (Bex Wilson http://www.justgiving.com/Bex-GreatSouthRun , Rich Nolan - http://www.runningsponsorme.org/richardnolan1 - Sammy Keppler http://www.justgiving.com/Samantha-Keppler , and Dec Wiseman http://www.justgiving.com/Declan-Wiseman), and the determination to do this for a great charity, an inspiring family and an incredible friend :)

All donations, no matter how large or small, are greatly apreciated, as are comments along the lines of "You'll never do it!"/"Leisha's clearly lost her marbles" - but you have to donate in order to comment - see what I did there?!

Thank you for you time and support - I am very grateful :) xXx

P.S. - Virgin Money Giving is an entirely safe and secure site which allows donations to be processed efficiently. It is not for profit and allows tax-payers to select a 'Gift Aid' option, which increases their donation at no extra cost to them - clever, huh?

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