A determined family and their friends took on the Spinnaker Tower abseil in Portsmouth and raised over £5,072 for The Sick Children’s Trust – a charity which supported them with free ‘Home from Home’ accommodation when their daughter was seriously ill.
Julie Mitchell, from Burgess Hill, and three of her children were joined by six friends to take on the 100 metre challenge in Portsmouth to say thank you to The Sick Children’s Trust for supporting their family when their daughter Rebecca was being treated in hospital.
In 2003, Julie’s ten-year-old daughter Rebecca was rushed to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in London. She received three months of specialist treatment after becoming seriously ill with pneumonia and septicaemia. During this three months, as Rebecca fought for her life, her family were supported at Guilford Street House, one of the charity’s free ‘Homes from Home’, located just a few minutes from GOSH. Mum Julie says:
“The worst thing ever was being told we needed to say our goodbyes. How did it come to this, our loving, caring and beautiful girl becoming so fragile? We couldn’t believe we were being told it might be the last time we’d see her. Rebecca was at GOSH for around three months. For the first few nights, I slept on a chair outside her room – she was so ill that we couldn’t even sleep on the ward with her.
