Readers might remember back in July, we mentioned that Island musician, footballer and six-pack model, Gareth Icke, was planning to swim the Solent for charity.
Well, true to his word, young Gareth completed his challenge last week and swam from mainland England back to the Isle of Wight. Well done Gareth, a huge pat on the back from all here at VB.
Gareth set off from Hurst Castle and had intended to land at Fort Albert. The strong tides meant a change of plan, so Fort Victoria became the next target. In just an hour and twenty minutes Gareth landed back on the Island, a little further down the coast than anticipated, nearer to Shalfleet.
The Lewis Mighty Fund
The reason for Gareth’s challenge was to raise money for the Lewis Mighty Fund.
In October 2008, when he was three years old, Lewis Paul Mighty, was diagnosed with Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma; a very rare form of cancer which mainly targets under 5s.
Extensive treatment
Lewis has never reached remission despite undergoing extensive chemotherapy, major surgery, a stem cell transplant and two doses of extremely high internal radiation.
His parents say that options in the UK are limited and treatment in other parts of the world come with hefty price tags, so they are appealing for contributions however big or small.
Please visit Gareth’s dedicated webpage to donate via paypal.
You can catch some of the swim on the video below. Thanks to Gareth’s co-host on Vectis Radio, Tim Pritchard for sending through.
Find out more about Gareth’s regular antics by visiting his blog.
