British Liver Trust

Alisha Mckerron-Heese suffered from Wilson’s Disease, and had to under go two liver transplants, spending 4 months in hospital.  She is now fit and healthy, married to Bruno, and has a son.  Alisha began fundraising for the British Liver Trust by holding a coffee morning at her local church. 

This year, her husband Bruno, and her son’s godfather Paul, took part in the Trans Alps-an eight day cycle race across the Alps, passing through Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. 

Between them, Paul and Bruno have managed to raise almost £12,000.00 for the British Liver Trust!  We are so proud to have three such brilliant fundraisers helping the British Liver Trust. If you are inspired to do something similar we would be delighted to help contact fundraising@britishlivertrust.org.uk

Below is Bruno's story:

"I took up the challenge of the Transalps, having done no serious mountain biking when Paul, our son's godson asked me if I'd fancy the challenge. I didn't really know what I was getting myself in for but it was 6 months away and I figured it would be great motivation to get really fit again.

In my youth, I'd swum competitively at a provincial and international level in South Africa. When I was swimming, I found the level of energy and the positive attitude that came from being really fit was fantastic and I hoped I could get back to something like that again.  

As we began training I realised just how far I had to go, and how technically difficult mountain biking can be. To go from no cycling history to a huge event was a massive stretch on my body (one develops endurance ability over time, with years spent on bikes).  

As I realised just what I was letting myself in for, I thought it would be great to dedicate my efforts to a cause that was dear to Alisha in particular and we quickly decided on the British Liver Trust, given her history. Paul was very supportive so we kicked off our fund raising.  

The race itself was absolutely brutal for me. The first four days just seemed to get tougher and tougher, and the weather conditions were very extreme...-1deg C on the top of one mountain, hail storms and icy winds.

By day 5, our longest day (122kms, 3,000m of vertical climbing) I was very nervous. In addition to the distance, there was, we learned just as we were about to start having missed the briefing the night before, a cut-off time at the second water station (after all the big mountains). Thankfully I felt stronger and could go at an easish pace for the first 20kms or so.

Paul suffered from a puncture and as we discovered a tyre that was well on its way to rupturing. Having no spare, we duck-taped the tyre up and proceeded with the 40kms odd to the second water station. We made it to the station with 30mins to spare (6.5hrs) and still had another 3 or so to go to get to the finish. So after 10 hours we finally limped home.

The next day was the toughest in terms of climbing (4,000m) again with a cut-off. We made that again and limped home. After that the stages got a little easier but we were pretty dead so they felt tough. Finally, after 60hrs or so of cycling, 650kms and over 21kms of vertical climbing we made it over the line in Riva del Garda, a beautiful town on one of the great northern Italian lakes.   When we arrived back, we sent out a few more reminder emails to secure some more sponsorship and are very proud to have raised so much money (almost £12,000). Wonderful support from family, friends and colleagues."

Donations can still be made via Bruno and Paul's Just Giving sites until 19th September http://www.justgiving.com/brunoheese  http://www.justgiving.com/paulmarchand.