This is Wyatt, he is 4 years old and suffers from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. He is also Mark’s best friend’s son.
2 weeks after Commsverse 2022, Sam and Rhiannon (Wyatt’s parents) noticed bruising around his neck combined with high temperature that they couldn’t control. The GP thought it was sepsis and rushed a blood test. The test revealed that Wyatt had Leukaemia. Overnight, their lives changed.
Over the past 6 months, Wyatt has been battling with infections alongside receiving chemotherapy treatment to combat this disease. His parents, having to care for their 4 other children, continue to work where they can and travel to hospitals 30-40 miles away so that Wyatt could receive the treatment he needs are exhausted.
Wyatt needed help to understand what was happening to him, so Sam turned to the Give a Duck foundation that provides huggable ducks with ports and tubes that mirror what was going to happen to Wyatt in the course of his treatment as well as specialists to help explain this in a non-scary way that children can understand.
To help the family with the turmoil and having to stay away whilst Wyatt was receiving treatment which was weeks at a time, the Ronald McDonald House charity provided free accommodation and internet access so that Sam and Rhiannon could stay close to Wyatt and still find time to work.
Things are getting better for Wyatt now, slowly. He is responding to treatment but there is still such a long way to go in his recovery. Without these charities Wyatt’s and his family’s lives would have been so much harder.
On May 13th 2023, I will be climbing Mt Snowdon, the highest mountain in my home country, Wales. At just over 3,500ft (1,085m), it is not a particularly high mountain compared to others, but this is not just a simple walking challenge.
This is a personal challenge and goal for me and I wanted to do some good for others as part of it and to also give me the motivation and encouragement to complete it.
I have always struggled with my weight. At my heaviest in 2021, the scales weighed in at just under 27 stone (171kg or 378lbs). Climbing the stairs at home (13 steps) was enough to put me out of breath, sweating and gasping for air. I was in a terrible position and facing undoubtedly an early death. I was disinterested in life and family. I would rather do nothing than something because of the physical effort required and this impacted my family too, especially my kids.
I decided I need to do something and since then I have lost 8.5 stone (53kg or 119lbs).
In recognition to this loss and to remind myself never, ever to let myself get into that situation again, I am going to climb Mt Snowdon the day after my 40th birthday carrying 50kg of weight in a rucksack on my back.
Climbing the mountain represents the battle both myself and Wyatt face and I want to ensure that some good will come from completing the challenge.
With the current cost of living crisis, it feels wrong to ask people already squeezed with rising costs of everything for money they cannot afford to donate to charity. Therefore, to raise money for Wyatt, I am going to donate £2.50 from every ticket sold for Commsverse to the Give a Duck Foundation and Ronald McDonald House Charity. If I complete the challenge, I will double the donation.
My goal is to raise £5,000 in total and split this 50-50 between the charities that have helped Wyatt and his family. To do this, I need to sell 500 tickets to Commsverse. Each charity will receive £2.50 immediately on ticket purchase and then another £2.50 on completion of my challenge.
If you would like to just donate rather than buy a ticket to Commsverse, you can do via the link below. We would greatly appreciate the support. Thank you.
Take a look at our list of exhibitors who will be at Commsverse.
If you would like to exhibit at Commsverse 2023, please download our sponsor brochure
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