Don’t look down: Brave Abseilers take on the drop

On Saturday 16^th September, 69 abseilers arrived at QMC to take on the 100-foot drop down the side of the building in support of Nottingham hospitals.

Despite the weather, there were smiles and laughs throughout the day, with every fundraiser there braving the descent to say thank you to the hospitals for their own personal reasons.

The Murphy family were the first fundraisers of the day. Emotions ran high as Lauren, Michael, Siobhan, and Erin all descended in aid of the Adult Intensive Care Unit at QMC after Dec, who is Lauren’s husband, Siobhan's brother, and Michael’s son, suffered a massive pulmonary embolism on both of his lungs and suffered five cardiac arrests. Thanks to the care from staff at Nottingham hospitals, Dec survived, and is still undergoing treatment.

Another fundraiser was Jane Jeoffrey, whose son Vance Warner has been working hard to raise money for Hayward House, and who took on the descent just over six months after her son.

Throughout the day, we saw 23 members of Team NUH take on the challenge including Team Hepatitis, Stroke, and NUH students.

200 Degrees coffee popped along with their special coffee van and helped keep supporters warm and hydrated, and we saw Nottingham Hospitals Charity funded therapy dogs Pooches visit to help calm the nerves of our brave fundraisers.

Jules Doherty, Community and Corporate Fundraiser at Nottingham Hospitals Charity, said of the day “The abseil was a fabulous day! It was so great to meet all our fantastic fundraisers, each raising funds for their own personal reasons to thank the NHS staff, and most of them conquering their fear of heights!

“We had 69 abseilers on the day and have so far raised over £21,000, which is phenomenal! There was a great atmosphere, and the sun even made an appearance!”

Deborah Godfrey from Stroke Services said of the day "“What an amazing experience the abseil was. Following on, we now have others who are interested next time which is great. I would love to do it again too. Thank you to your team for organising.”

A huge thank you to everyone who took part in our September abseil. If you took part and would like to view the photos from the day, please visit here.

If you are feeling inspired and want to take on our next Big QMC Abseil, you can register your interest to be one of the first to hear when entries open.