Declan’s Diary

Waking up to rain on the day of the ‘Good Morning Tough mudder challenge’ wasn’t the best start to the day. Thankfully we had stayed at Rainbows Hospice the night before so at least I was well rested. Declan was desperate to come with me, so armed with plenty of waterproofs we set off to Grantham. On our arrival we headed straight to a big tent where one-by-one, all one hundred mum’s met and got excited about the challenge.
Alex with Ben and Zowie cross the finish LineWe were put into teams led by the Good Morning Britain presenters. To my delight I was on Ben Shepherd’s team which was later nicknamed Ben’s babes. I couldn’t have wished to be with a better bunch of ladies, all with heart warming stories as to why they had been chosen to be a part of the tough mum challenge.
One lady, Zowie had beaten cancer and was marking a year since her first chemotherapy session. I promised to stay with her throughout. As a team we helped each other and I kept my promise to Zowie – along with Ben Shepherd we crossed the finish line together.
Alex, Declan, Ben and the teamThankfully, just before the challenge started, the rain stopped and held off until we finished so Declan was able to watch the whole event. He thinks I’m mad for choosing to do such a event, but with a smile told me he is proud of me. All the way through, when I felt exhausted I just thought of Dec and carried on bouncing over all the obstacles and making my teammates laugh. It’s a day I’ll never forget and I feel privileged to have been chosen to do it.
Declan has now finished his first year at Loughborough college. It may have started with him being in hospital and unable to go for the first term, but he’s caught up so well and will go on to do the next level of media in September.
I’m so proud of him for pursuing his dream of going to college, he really does prove how important determination is.
Alex