This summer I will attempt to complete one of the greatest tests of endurance on the sporting calendar.  Ironman Switzerland is a triathlon which starts with a 2.4 mile swim in Lake Zurich, continues with a 112 mile bike course and concludes with a 26 mile marathon run.  Every step of the way I will be thinking about the story below which is taken from the fundraising page of our great friends, Debbie and Alex Jupe.  Please support me, to support them.

Our son Raffy was born at 36 weeks on 17 February 2015 with a severe brain aneurysm called a vein of Galen malformation that had been diagnosed just 10 days earlier. Despite a planned and complex operation at Great Ormond Street Hospital he passed away peacefully in our arms 3 days after he was born.

We were lucky to have had the best care available in the world that gave Raffy the best chance of survival. We would like to honour his memory by fundraising to build two newborn centres at rural hospitals in Zimbabwe, where facilities for babies born with difficulties are in short supply, and both maternal and neonatal death rates are high. This ambitious target will fund both equipment and construction to care for 4 babies at each centre, as well as health worker training, and every penny raised will go toward the centres that will bear his name.


You can read more about the programme 'Safe Arrivals' that this project will be managed by at http://www.arkonline.org/health/zimbabwe