A 90-YEAR-OLD woman from Andover is beginning her second 27-mile charity walk as part of a family fundraiser spanning four generations.
Pauline Hoare decided to walk 27 miles before her 91st birthday later this month to raise funds for the Ocean Ward, where her great great grandson, Reggie, was treated as a newborn baby.
As previously reported, baby Reggie suffers from a rare condition called Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF), which causes a range of heart defects. He stayed on the Ocean Ward at Southampton University Hospital while having heart surgery.
Now several members of his family, spanning four generations, are getting involved in an epic fundraiser to give something back.
In March, they set up a fundraiser for the Families of Ocean Ward charity, a group which provides equipment, furniture and essential equipment for the ward, and the families who use it.
“We’re all so grateful,” Reggie’s grandmother Sharon Chamberlain previously told the Advertiser.
“They basically saved Reggie’s life, and he is so important to all of us so we as a family can’t express how thankful we are to them. It’s just a little bit of giving back, paying forward as they say.”
Almost every member of the extended family is getting involved in the fundraising campaign. His grandfather, Mark Chamberlain, great uncles Maurice and Chris and cousin Jack are all planning to run 240 miles between April and Reggie’s first birthday on July 23, which is one mile for each hour he spent on the ward.
Meanwhile Pauline, who is a regular fixture in Andover where she is often spotted out and about raising funds for the Salvation Army, has completed her own challenge, and decided to start all over again.
Sharon said: “She said one marathon down, and time to start the next. True inspiration.”
For more information or to make a donation, visit: https://justgiving.com/fundraising/reggiespayitforward
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