Dad’s icy challenge after baby ‘frozen’ to keep her alive
A FATHER will come up against piercing winds and temperatures as low as minus 20C on an epic expedition across the deepest lake in the world.
By aiming to cross the frozen Lake Baikal in Siberia, Greg Bower is taking on a challenge few have ever completed – and he is doing it in tribute to his daughter, Ellie.
Over 11 days, the dad of two and his experienced expedition leader will trek 200 miles across the ice and back again – and he is looking for more companions.
Mr Bower, from Kent, is hoping to raise £50,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charities UK after they provided him and his wife Mel with a place to stay when Ellie was rushed to hospital soon after birth in 2012.
Ellie was born suffering from perinatal asphyxia, a condition in which a baby’s brain does not receive enough oxygen and which can lead to cardiorespiratory or brain damage.
She was treated at Brighton’s Royal Sussex County Hospital, where her body was “frozen” – cooled to a very low temperature – in order to give her a chance to fight off the illness.
Ellie then had to spend additional time in the baby unit for scans and tests – before she met all her developmental milestones and got the all-clear aged two.
At the time, Mr and Mrs Bower
lived in Surrey but Ronald McDonald House Brighton provided a room for them, which helped Mrs Bower recover from life-saving surgery.
Mr Bower said: “As Ellie was frozen after being born, it seems fitting that I undertake this challenge in one of the coldest places on Earth.
“I wanted to give back to the charity as we were so incredibly grateful for the support we received from Ronald McDonald House Charities UK. For me, the bigger the challenge, the more money I hope to raise.”
The Russian lake adventure is set for February, and he will be accompanied by expert Mike
Laird, from Edinburgh, who starred in BBC reality show Castaway 2000.
Mr Laird has skied all the way to the North Pole, spent time in the Bering Strait and traversed Lake Baikal, solo, in 2019.
Mr Bower added: “I would love to achieve my goal alongside 10 others. I think together we could forge a team spirit that will see us through, and raise potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds in total for our charities.” ●●Greg Bower’s donation page for his challenge, along with details for anyone wanting to join him, can be found at https:// www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ siberian-lake-challenge