December 9, 2019

Unless you’ve been living under a rock recently, it cannot have escaped your notice that there’s a momentous event taking place on 12 December…

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Unless you’ve been living under a rock recently, it cannot have escaped your notice that there’s a momentous event taking place on 12 December: the start of the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge.

08B9BD4B-8ED3-4C4A-AC09-8BD6DBB90E77 On Thursday, 35 boats will embark on a 3,000 mile rowing race from San Sebastian, La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Nelson’s Dockyard, English Harbour in Antigua. The race begins at this time of year so as to avoid the hurricane season, although the crews are of course at the mercy of the elements and the accompanying giant waves, for the several weeks that it typically takes to complete the crossing. More people have climbed Everest than have attempted to row the Atlantic, such is the extent of the challenge.

The Team Margot Atlantic Rowers are a team of three middle-aged dads who are seeking to scratch a long held itch & do something remarkable. Along the way, they might also help save a few lives.

As the team name suggests, they’re rowing the Atlantic with a Team Margot rallying cry. Perhaps unusually, the team are not after your money ! but instead are asking you to give a few of your cheek cells on the end of a cotton bud, so that you might one day be matched with a patient with blood cancer.

Every time they row a stroke, the team want someone who is eligible, to register as a stem cell and bone marrow donor. If you’re in general good health & aged between 17-55, you could save someone’s life by doing something so simple & give hope to the tens of thousands of patients in desperate need, not to mention their families.

2639375C-B306-4EC2-A456-508742EB058BIt’s difficult to express the anguish & despair that our family faced, brought about by the uncertainty as to whether a matching donor might be found for my young daughter, Margot. Margot desperately needed a matching donor, so that she might have a stem cell transplant and stand the best chance of survival. Whilst Margot’s transplant didn’t work, many others have received life saving stem cell & bone marrow transplants as a direct result of Margot’s appeal, so it gives us some comfort knowing that there is more hope for other patients & their loved ones.

6C797364-A557-4023-9C80-8BE26B34804EToday, it’s vital that Peter McCleave, husband to Jen and father to Max & Seb finds a matching donor to fight his blood cancer.

Peter was a potential Team Margot Atlantic Rower and as such our Atlantic boat will carry his name as our “fourth rower” as the team make the crossing, all part of our #WeRowYouRegister campaign.

Peter, a former Ironman triathlete is a real life hero, who when told by doctors that he had an incurable disease and only 7 years to live, opted to fight the odds and dedicate his life to finding a cure: someone like you.

Thus far, Peter’s tireless campaigning has notched up approaching 35,000 new registrations, and whilst his efforts will result in hundreds of potentially life-saving transplants for many others, Peter has yet to find a matching donor for himself.

Regardless of whether you vote in the General Election on Thursday, please make the decision to visit WeRowYouRegister.org & click the link to register.

BACAEE4E-8D19-4BA5-9ADF-56E3072F38A4It takes a few minutes to register online & you could be the only person in the world to save Peter’s life, or the life of someone like him.

Thank you.

Team Margot Atlantic Rowers
Pulling Together Saving Lives

Husband to Vicki and father to Oscar (2007), Rufus (2008), Digby (2015), Humphrey (2017) & Margot (2012-2014)

Posted in: Journal