A very large part of my motivation to do 2012 miles in 2012, apart from the moral mid life panic of hitting 40 and the bulgwaistlines oil to accompany it, was the inspiration I got from an 11 year old girls called Vanessa Riddle.
Vanessa is suffering from a rare cancer called Neuroblastoma. She has been fighting it for many years. In fact about 14 months ago she was given the all clear, but the cancer came back about 6 months go. Shockingly the NHS policy on the return of Neuroblastoma is not to treat. I essence saying there's no more they can do for her. How could you EVER say that to a child??
The US does have treatment and this is where Vanessa and her family aimed their sights, but first needed to raise £500,000 to cover the cost of treatment.
I found out about Vanessa's fight and challenge and was inspired to try and help in any way I could. The courage with which Vanessa is facing her fight, and the support of her family, is so very inspirational and gave me some much needed focus for my minor middle aged insecurities.
So every day I am now forced to think about Vanessa, about the miles I must cycle, and the money I need to raise (£2012 seemed fitting). So far I have cycled about 23% of my total and raised about 10% of my total. So off track slightly on bother, but I will persevere.
As an aside, the Vanessa Riddle fundraising total now stands at 3/4 million pounds which is FANTASTIC news. As you can expect, Vanessa has taken the opportunity of the momentum of her campaign to keep raising much needed funds to support herself, but also the Neuroblastoma charity who is supporting her, so that others might benefit in the same way. An amazing 11 year old indeed!!
If you are inspired by this and would like to support me in my endeavours to help the please visit http://www.justgiving.com/RupertRiding4Vanessa
Thank you!!
