Why Meningitis Research?

So why have I chosen to raise money for the Meningitis Research Foundation?

In my second year of University, one of my good friends, Susie, contracted meningitis and subsequently died from the disease. She was 19 years old and fit and healthy.

What was particularly shocking was the speed at which it all happened - we had all been out to cinema on the Friday night and everything was as normal.... the next day Susie started showing symptoms and was admitted to hospital. By Monday, only 2 days later, she had died from the disease.

The Meningitis Research Foundation not only supports research into the causes and treatment of the disease, but also works to raise awareness and educate on the symptoms of the disease and the impact it can have.

Likewise, I am hoping that by taking part in this challenge I will not only raise money for the charity, but also increase awareness of the disease myself. It really can affect anyone, and by becoming familiar with the symptoms you may be able to recognise them in yourself or someone else and ensure treatment is received as quickly as possible, and hopefully prevent the same consequences as befell Susie.

If you would like any more info on meningitis - including identifying the symptoms of the disease - and the work of the Meningitis Research Foundation, please click on the link below or the one at the top right of this page.

Meningitis Research Foundation

To sponsor me online, please go to the following page (always available at the top right of this page) :

Click here to sponsor me online! Thanks :-)

Introduction

Hello! Thanks for stopping by.....

As this is my first post, I'll give a brief introduction and outline the purpose of this blog.

As you can see from reading the description at the top of this page, I have recently signed up to take part in a sponsored bike ride from the Andes to the Amazon next April (2007). The credit for coming up with this idea has to go to my little sister, Jess, who is also taking part in this challenge at the same time (more on that in one of my next posts!).

The charity I have decided to raise money for is the Meningitis Research Foundation (see link) - again, I will make a separate post as to my reasons for this, but suffice to say for now that I've been unfortunate enough to witness the devastating impact of this disease whilst at university. My hope is that I will be able to not only raise money for further research into combating the disease, but also raise the general level of awareness of the disease, its symptoms and effects, and also the charity itself. As for the blog itself, I have a number of aims.....

• - to give a brief background as to how I got involved with this challenge
• - to explain my reasons for choosing to raise money for the Meningitis Research Foundation
• - to share news and results of fundraising events and chart my progress in reaching my target of £3,000
• - to keep you updated on how my training is progressing (I have a long way to go!)
• - to give all you good people out there a chance to leave comments and ideas - any thoughts on how I can raise money would be much appreciated!

Thanks for visiting, and make sure you bookmark this page and come back regularly for news and updates on my progress!

Chris.