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FREEMAN HEART & LUNG TRANSPLANT ASSOCIATION REGISTERED CHARITY 700730
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Trekking in Iceland - 2009
Iceland: The country of fire and ice, the country torn apart by the earth’s movement. Not the initial choice for a relaxing break but an ideal location for the challenge of a lifetime. After 5 fantastic years following my heart transplant, I decided that an ambition to visit this amazing country and an opportunity to raise money for The Freeman Heart and Lung Transplant association could be combined. Just less than a year ago I signed up to complete a 9 day, 41 mile trek in Iceland. After initial trepidation and plenty of sleepless nights, I arrived at Heathrow on the 15th August 2009 to join 34 other “trekkers”. After managing to get my luggage (containing everything from a sleeping bag to a head torch) through our Heathrow check in , it was time to acclimatise to the 24hrs of daylight and the low temperatures. My tent buddy was to be Kate Meeting for the first time in a Reykjavík hotel. We now have the skills to pitch a tent, blindfolded, in a force 10 gale! Our trek took us around the rim of the still active Mt Hekla volcano, across (and I mean through) 3 rivers and along canyons. The scenery varied from woods to towering mountains across miles and miles of sharp volcanic rock. The rain was vertical at times, but when the sun shone we marvelled at a country so diverse and silent it seemed almost mystical. Traversing mountain ridges in blizzard conditions and later relaxing in natural hot springs are experiences which none of us can forget. When times were hard and I needed to “dig deeper” I felt that I may virtually have been drilling for oil. Yet, through the whole trek, the camaraderie of the group and our sense of purpose were clear. My purpose was to explore a country which had
long fascinated me and to raise funds for the Freeman Hospital‘s Heart and Lung
Transplant Unit which has made so much possible for me and for many others. Susie Wood
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Send mail to judith@fhlta.org.uk
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