Marathon Des Sables Amazing Amber

I have re typed this opening sentence so many times and I don’t know how to say it. 
ok. Here goes. April 4th 2020....

I AM DOING THE
MARATHON DES SABLES 2020.... (MDS). Me, Amy Jackson of Yorkshire lass grit, for kicks and giggles . 

For those who know what craziness this ultra-marathon entails, I imagine there are already
guffaws, tuts and head shakes about the fact I’ve even considered entering it. 

For those who haven’t yet heard of this event,in a nutshell, here is what it is....

1. 250km across the Sahara desert
2. Done over six days
3. Totally self-sufficient apart from
water, salt tablets and a basic goat hair Berber 
tent each night.

I know. I know. I know. It’s mental and crazy and off the wall and what am I thinking??!
But after training for it since January 2019, I’m now excited about making it to the start
line, with my good friend Clare (who has already successfully completed the MDS in
2016).  My aim is to keep getting to the start line for each of the six days of the challenge
and to get to that finish line for a medal. 

Whilst I am not doing this challenge directly with a charity, I have decided to try and
double this up with trying to fundraise for somebody close to home: Amazing Amber. 

Who is Amazing Amber and what is the link?  I have known Amber’s mum Jen since I was 2!  We started at playgroup together, then went to the same nursery, primary school and
secondary school.  If you think we’d had our fill of each other, then you are wrong,
because we then went on to live with each other down in London after we finished university.  38 years of friendship has endured thus far and there have been ups and downs and roundabouts, but what a cracking friend Jen has been to me. We don’t see each other too often these days, simply because geographically, we couldn’t be much further apart. (Jen in the south west and me in the north east!!) 

Jenny's daughter is Amazing Amber.  Wow, what a girl.  What follows is very much a
layman’s interpretation of the roller coaster that Amber has been on since 2016. 
Diagnosed with leukaemia in March 2016 at the age of 3 and a half, Amber endured over 2 years of chemotherapy.  In August 2018, she rang the final treatment bell at hospital, only to be in remission for a short couple of months.  By December 2018, it was back to
the drawing board and a new plan was needed to treat her recurring leukaemia. 
January 2019 saw a trial treatment at Great Ormond Street, but sadly, this was unsuccessful. 

By March 2019, Amber was preparing for a bone marrow transplant.  I think it is safe to
say, that although this is intended to be a lifesaving procedure, it really did drag poor
Amber through the bowels of hell.  A year on and although the leukaemia is no longer
present in her bone marrow, unfortunately her “new” bone marrow isn’t working too
well either.  Her donor from abroad is unable to donate again until 2021, for reasons
unknown.  Amber’s situation as it currently stands, is that as I prepare to go and do this
ridiculous challenge, doctors are considering another bone marrow transplant in April. 

So why I am fundraising for Amber in this situation? Money can’t buy treatment on our amazing NHS and it can’t buy a magical cure in the coming months. The money fundraised is to support Amber’s quality of life.  Amber longs to go to school and be with her friends, play in the water, run in the park and have adventures, but obviously, that is not feasible for Amber with her immune system so vulnerable. 

She is a passionate little learner and has an appetite for absorbing the world around her and asking a million questions.  She is a social butterfly, chatty and inquisitive, but due to
her ill health, not allowed to spread her wings and fly at the moment.  I think Jen would
agree when I write here that Amber is isolated by her illness.  She spends much of
her time at home or hospital and avoiding situations where her health could be seriously compromised.  Any money fund-raised would go towards improving Amber’s quality of life in the following ways: resources for homeschooling; (STEM science KS2 annual subscription), physiotherapy for her wasted muscles that limit her ability to walk any distance. , day trips away that will not compromise Amber's health. (Amber dreams of swim in the sea and visiting puffins on an island one day.) 

To promote complete transparency in this fundraising challenge, the money will go directly to Amber’s mum and dad from the Go Fund Me account. 

Thank you in advance; here's to Amazing Amber and a crazy adventure!