Northumbria graduate runs to help save lives

Ivan graduated from Northumbria in 1996 with a BSc (Hons) in Sports and Exercise Science and has always been a keen runner achieving impressive finishes in both marathons and half marathons across the UK. However none have been as important as this coming summers undertaking.

Ivan will be running the 145 miles from Coast to Coast (the C2C), in order to raise money for CHUF, based at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, a charity which is very close to his family’s heart, and here’s why…

“On January 11th 2009 our beautiful son Sebastian John came into the world. The dream quickly turned into a nightmare when 15 hours after Seb was born he was rushed to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle due to some potential issues with his heart.

"When the Consultant, Registrar and Specialist Nurse walked into the room our hearts sank; knowing how these things work, we realised it wasn’t good news! We were told Seb had been born with a congenital heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot; and that left untreated it would be unlikely he would see his 2nd Birthday.

"We were told that the plan would be for Seb to undergo surgery at around 12 months of age, when he was bigger and strong enough to cope safely with the dangers of surgery. Unfortunately Seb’s condition deteriorated quite badly and the surgical team decided he urgently required emergency open heart surgery; he was only 16 weeks old!

"Trying to keep each other distracted for over 6 hours while Seb underwent his surgery was the hardest thing we’ve ever had to do...that was until we arrived at Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) to see our little hero. He looked so weak, so helpless, and the following few days on PICU were the hardest of our lives. After our week on PICU we spent just over a month on the ward and were finally able to take our little man home at the beginning of June.

"In the last year we’ve enjoyed every single second as a family; I guess having seen your child almost taken from you means you never look at life the same again. Seb is doing really well, and if you met him you would think him no different from any other 17 month old boy; unfortunately we have been informed he will require further open heart surgery. The decision for this will be taken by the Consulting team at the Freeman based on how Seb’s heart copes with the existing problems. It could be 5 months or 5 years.

"So the question we asked ourselves was, “How do you say thank you when someone saved your son’s life”? The answer...you dedicate your life to raising much needed funds for the place that you feel so indebted to. The charity associated with the Freeman Hospital Paediatric Cardio-Thoracic Centre is called the CHUF.

"Our target is to raise £120, 000 for CHUF over the next couple of years, but we won't stop there."

They have started their 2010 fundraising with a real bang and some very ambitious events.
The Coast to Coast walk and run starts on Saturday 31st July, finishing on Wednesday 4th August and the route is from Whitehaven to Tynemouth. The participants will be running or walking 29 miles per day which is no mean feat. Ivan will be joined by life-long friend Ben Shephard of GMTV and both have been training hard for the event.

They plan to fundraise through sponsorship beforehand and on route and are encouraging people to join them for some or part of the way.

The final day will see the troop run past the Freeman Hospital where Seb underwent his life saving surgery and at this point they will be joined by Mr Hasan, Seb’s surgeon for the final miles.

The completion of this mammoth run will be celebrated by the Coast to Coast Charity Ball, taking place on Thursday 5th August at the Newcastle/Gateshead Hilton. The event will be hosted by Ben Shephard accompanied by Denise Welch and Tim Healy who will be celebrity auctioneers for the evening.  

Ivan finished by telling me, “Our hope and dream is for people to join us on our journey and help us realise our fundraising target. The one thing we keep saying to everyone is, “please, please help us, we really can’t do this on our own”, and it’s so true. Whether you decide to join us for a part of our C2C effort, come along to the Ball or support us in any way you can, we need your help!"

If you want any more information about CHUF, to become involved in fundraising or to attend the Coast to Coast Charity Ball please visit the Seb 4 CHUF  website: www.Seb4Chuf.org.uk