A brave and determined former patient at Southampton General Hospital has risen to the ultimate challenge, and competed in Iron Man UK 2009. Alan Charlesworth, who suffered a serious head injury 5 years ago, was treated in the Wessex Neurological Unit at Southampton General Hospital for a number of weeks. As a result of the injury, Alan required emergency neurosurgery to remove an extradural haematoma, a potentially life threatening blood clot on the brain. Alan remained positive, and pulled through from this critical time to make a full recovery from his injury.
Deciding to raise money to support the unit that provided such vital care for his recovery, Alan undertook the staggering challenge, which has a 140.6 mile total race distance, including a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.3 mile run to finish.
Speaking about Iron Man UK, Alan said, “It was the biggest challenge that I could think to set myself. When I came out of my accident it really made me realise how precious life is, and I wanted to give something back. I just thought, ‘What’s the next thing I can do?’ and I settled on Iron Man!”
In preparation for the challenge, Alan speaks of a gruelling 20-week daily training programme, consisting of bike rides for up to 7 hours, 2-hour runs and 2-hour lake swims, all in addition to working a full-time job.
A fantastic total of £1,365 was raised through sponsorship, which will help purchase a specialist lowlevel bed for the Wessex Neuro Centre, under Southampton Hospital Charity’s Specialist Nurse Head Injury Fund.
Mr Charlesworth said, “When it comes to sponsorship and you start to really talk to people about the cause, it’s surprising how many people know someone with a similar kind of injury, and people really dig deep to provide as much support as they can. I am so grateful for the support of all my friends and colleagues.”
Miranda Gardner, Head Injury Nurse Specialist on the Ward refers to Alan’s fundraising as “More than a marathon effort”. Miranda went on to say, "We are enormously grateful to Alan for raising such a substantial amount of money towards this specialist bed. Considering the serious nature of his injury, Alan's achievement in completing the Iron man UK is more than we could ever have hoped for. Everyone at the Wessex Neuro Centre is delighted and honoured that Alan has chosen us to be the beneficiary of his sponsorship funds. We shall be purchasing a special low profile bed with the money, to protect patients who are at risk of falling.”
Alan speaks of further ambitions to fundraise in the future, hinting that he hopes to compete in the half-Iron Man event next year, and is also considering an accelerated freefall skydive as his next fundraising challenge.
Posted on Wednesday 25 November 2009