Dan Armstrong's TriathLONG 2015

[lt]div id="_mcePaste" style="position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow: hidden;"[gt]In 2012 my daughter Grace was diagnosed with ependymoma brain tumour. She underwent brain surgery and follow-up Proton Therapy in America. A year later the tumour re-appeared and was surgically removed again. This time she had full head & spine radiotherapy. She was so brave and happy throughout this potentially scary and long process. She lost her hair but rarely lost her smile.[lt]/div[gt] [lt]div id="_mcePaste" style="position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow: hidden;"[gt]She is now tumour free & with no symptoms or side-effects. It's miraculous. Even her hair has grown back.[lt]/div[gt] [lt]div id="_mcePaste" style="position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow: hidden;"[gt]Throughout the whole process of treatment and constant visits for check-ups and tests we were amazingly supported by our familes and friends. We were also financially supported and advised by 2 charities Snowdrop sussex and Clic Sargent[lt]/div[gt][p][lt]img title="Triathlong Logo 455" src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3815200/triathlong/triathlong-logo-virgin455.jpg" alt="Triathlong Logo 455" width="455" height="153" /[gt][/p][p]Throughout 2015 my challenge is to complete over 3000 miles of Swimming, Running & Cycling. [/p][p]Running 870 miles - The distance from John O'Groats to Lands End[lt]br /[gt]Swimming 23 miles - The same as crossing the Channel[lt]br /[gt]Riding 2270 miles - As far as the Tour de France - further than Moscow or Marrakesh![/p][p][b]Why are you doing a TriathLONG?[/b][/p][p]In 2012 my daughter Grace was diagnosed with ependymoma [b]brain tumour[/b]. She underwent [b]brain surgery[/b] and follow-up [b]Proton Therapy[/b] in America. A year later the tumour re-appeared and was surgically removed again. This time she had full head & spine [b]radiotherapy[/b]. She was so brave and happy throughout this potentially scary and long process. She's had over 60 radiotherapy sessions strapped to a bed & had more than 20 MRI scans to date. She lost her hair but rarely lost her smile.[/p][p]She is now tumour free & with no symptoms or side-effects. It's miraculous. Even her hair has grown back.[/p][p]Grace inspired me with her perserverance and I wanted to do something to show us all that even though bad things do happen - greater good can come through them.[/p][p][b]Giving Back - 3 Charities?[/b][/p][p]Throughout the whole process of treatment and constant visits for check-ups and tests we were amazingly supported by our familes and friends. We were also financially supported and advised by 2 charities [i][b]The Sussex Snowdrop Trust[/b][/i] and [i][b]Clic Sargent[/b][/i]. Snowdrop were amazing and helped us pay for our groceries and fun days out for the whole family. Clic Sargent also gave us money and amazing wigs for Grace.[/p][p]I also wanted to fundraise for [b][i]Children on the Edge[/i][/b] a local charity that helps vulnerable children on the edge of society; from the slums of Uganda to displacement camps of Burma to the Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon. [/p][p]http://www.thesussexsnowdroptrust.com/about-us/where-does-the-money-go/[lt]br /[gt]http://www.clicsargent.org.uk/content/what-we-do[lt]br /[gt]http://www.childrenontheedge.org/how-we-help.html[/p][p][b]Please Give![lt]br /[gt][/b][/p][p]The greatest encouragement as I try to complete my challenge is to know I am inspiring others to support these great charities. Every bit is a huge help...[/p][lt]p class="p1"[gt][lt]span class="s1"[gt]£4 can heat a Syrian refugee camp school class room for a week[lt]/span[gt][/p][lt]p class="p1"[gt][lt]span class="s1"[gt]£8 can pay for ‘What Now’ a booklet for parents and carers whose child has just been diagnosed with cancer[lt]/span[gt][/p][p] £20 will help with petrol bills for families travelling thousand of miles to take their child to and from hospital [/p][p]Thanks! [/p]