A Southport photographer who has undergone heart surgery six times at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool is taking on a triathlon this weekend to raise money for it.
Tom Craven, 32, will take on the gruelling challenge in Southport this Saturday (29th April 2023) for the Alder Hey Children’s Charity.
He is due to arrive at Dunes Leisure Centre in Southport at 11.30am before taking on a one-mile swim, a 25-mile bike ride and a three-mile run, finishing his mission at 4pm.
He has already raised £1,170 for the cause, with people able to donate here: www.gofundme.com/tomstriathlon
Tom initially began his fundraiser to build up enough money to buy a new powerchair for his girlfriend, Sarah Alexander, 36, after it became beyond repair.
But after raising the £13,000 needed, he wanted to keep going to raise cash to support the everyday work of Alder Hey.
Tom said: “My girlfriend, Sarah’s powerchair is beyond repair so we were fundraising for a new one, and we have now hit the full amount which is incredible!
“Thank you so much to everyone who donated so far, the £360 will all be going towards Sarah’s new powerchair.
“As I still have a triathlon to do we thought why not continue raising money for an incredible cause?
“As both of us have been patients at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, we felt it was only right to raise money for them!
“I was born with Tetralogy of Fallot, which is four congenital heart defects.
“Doctors carried out my first procedure when I was 13 days old for a BT shunt as they couldn’t do open heart surgery yet.
“I had open heart surgery at 13 months old and 14 years old to replace my pulmonary valve.
“At Broadgreen Hospital in Liverpool I had keyhole surgery at 30 years old as 50% of my blood was leaking and not going round my body due to the pulmonary valve.
“I’d love to be able to raise as much money as I can for them.
“Please donate if you can, and please share!”
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