Laura Dunsby presenting her £1,000 HDU donation to Sister, Julia Bray
There was no starting small and working up for Laura Dunsby this year.
Forget ‘Couch to 5k’ because Laura went straight for it and chose from Couch to Mount Everest Base Camp!
As Laura explains herself:
“It all started in November 2018, when the Director of Nursing (Julie Shepherd) said to me ‘I have a crazy idea’.
Thinking she was going to tell me about a holiday or something she had booked, not really taking in what she was saying, I was basically being asked if I would go on a challenge/trek with her up to Everest Basecamp.
At first, I was a bit unsure as to why she was asking me to do this as I was the laziest person ever.
It took a lot of training, the biggest challenge being me getting active.
So, in August 2019, I did couch to Everest Basecamp.
I’m not going to lie it was tough, in fact apart from watching my Mum pass away, this was the hardest thing I have ever done, however also the most rewarding.
The messages from family and friends back home and also Mum’s memory kept me going throughout the trip.
I nearly gave up after day 2 but I kept on going through strong will and determination.
I have since managed to raise over £2,200 for Northamptonshire Health Charitable Fund, which I am still completely in shock about!
I never expected to raise so much money – the money I have raised is going towards the HDU department at NGH (as they cared for my mum before she passed away), the other half is going towards NHFT (Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust), which is where I work.
Thank you to everyone who supported me throughout this journey!”
Laura used the lead up to the Everest Base Camp challenge to get fit and healthy and admits that completing the challenge has done wonders for her mental wellbeing too.
She has written a blog about her adventure and is also following this up with a book.
There is also a nomination in the new category of Fundraiser of the Year alongside Julie, at this year’s NHFT Quality Awards.
We’re sending a huge Everest-sized thank you, and then some, to Laura for taking on this mightiest of challenges and raising such an incredible amount for HDU (and for NHFT).
Laura recently came in to present the £1,000 part of her fundraising to HDU Sister, Julia Bray.
The staff are so grateful to be in receipt of these funds, in memory of Laura’s mum.
This will help make a big difference to relatives of patients in the unit as the department are working on refurbishing the existing relatives and family room to provide a much more inviting and comforting environment.
Laura has chosen to donate anything raised over the £2,000 mark to the Anticoagulant team at Northampton General Hospital because this is where her mum, Caroline worked so she’d love to be able to support them too.
With the £500 matched funding from Northamptonshire Health Charity as part of the staff Challenge500 initiative, this means currently Laura will be able to donate £745 to the Anticoagulant Service.
Following this once in a lifetime journey Laura has been on and seeing how tough it has been and all the amazing support she has received from family, friends and colleagues, has been truly inspiring.
Indeed, watching Laura transform as she has achieved so much over this past year being involved with this is a huge inspiration to get stuck into something that will really challenge you!
Laura’s next challenge will be abseiling down the Northampton Lift Tower as part of our Northamptonshire Health Charity Abseil Day 2020.
There are then plans to follow this with another mountain trek in 2021, this time up Kilimanjaro.
Well done and thank you so much, Laura!!
You can read much more about Laura’s epic journey via her blog >>here<<.