Please help us cheer Sarah on and show your support!
We are always SO grateful to everyone who fundraises for us and genuinely could not do what we do without you! We would like to introduce Sarah, who has set herself an enormous challenge for the whole of 2022. We hope you can support her, share her page and cheer her on! We all know how hard it is committing to something even a couple of times a week, so to be doing this walk EVERY SINGLE DAY is really quite something!
Welcome Sarah – please tell us a bit about yourself!
My name is Sarah, I am mum of two girls age 13 & 5, Lucy & Emily. I have been married for 25 years to my husband Tony. I work as a Teaching Assistant supporting children with additional needs. I love my holidays abroad in the sun and family time.
Why are you fundraising for PoTS UK?
I am fundraising for PoTS UK to try and raise awareness since my daughter , Lucy was diagnosed in 2021. She started with pots symptoms following her HPV vaccine at school in November 2020.
Lucy has gone from being super active and swimming for our local swimming team 3-4 times a week to being a wheelchair user and spending the majority of time in bed. She now manages to attend school on a part time basis who support her in every way they can.
We couldn’t manage our daily lives of work etc without the fantastic support network of our family & friends. We have had great support from medical professionals but it is so difficult as no one has even heard of PoTS syndrome and I constantly feel I am repeating myself to educate them on PoTS.
What challenge have you set yourself?
In 2021 myself and a group of friends & family took part in a walk from Bolton to Blackpool ( approx 30 miles) raising a significant amount of money for the charity. I didn’t want to leave it there so I decided to set myself a challenge for 2022.
I decided I would walk 5km a day for a whole year to support the charity.
This is a HUGE commitment for me being a mum of two and working full time to be able to fit a 5km walk in EVERY SINGLE DAY around work, out of school activities and family time as well as having a chronically poorly child.
I love walking but only in dry weather! Most people who know me well know how much I really hate the rain! But come rain or shine I have completed my walk. Also managing whilst Lucy has been an inpatient at our local hospital for the past 11 days. I have been marching around the hospital grounds, (up and down corridors when it’s raining) wearing my PoTS UK hoody with pride squeezing in the walk in around doctors visits and medical procedures. I sent my weekly updates to the PoTS UK team each week so they can see how I am getting on!
Why is this so important to you? What do you want to see change?
I am determined to complete this challenge to raise awareness of this awful Syndrome. Month 1 done – only 11 to go!
The symptoms and problems it causes are absolutely awful and so debilitating, especially in our children who should be out there living life to the full.
I would like to see more medical professionals educated in PoTS to avoid the long durations it takes to diagnose and the anxieties it causes when fighting to be heard. Every day is a different fight with a different medical professional.
How can people help you?
I would be grateful if people could share my fundraising page and donate what they can to help and support me in my challenge in raising money for PoTS UK charity.
ARE YOU FUNDRAISING FOR PoTS UK? We would love to hear from you if you would like to share a bit more about what you are up to and why! Please contact jo@potsuk.org.