Dads of seriously ill children endured three days of almost non-stop physical exertion to raise money for Ty Hafan. The team managed to successfully scale Wales' 10 highest peaks in just two days, then cycle 53 miles from the Brecon Beacons to St David's Hotel in Cardiff Bay on Saturday.
One of the fathers involved was Matt Evans, from Swansea, whose five-year-old daughter Darcy was born with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome which causes developmental delay. She also has cerebral palsy, kidney disease, suffers with frequent seizures and required heart surgery shortly after birth.
Matt admitted the three-day #10nTaff challenge was mentally and physically exhausting, but he said his constant thoughts of Darcy - and the amazing care given to her by staff at Ty Hafan based in Sully, Vale of Glamorgan - gave him the motivation to succeed. He said: "Before I agreed to take on the challenge I'd not been up Pen y Fan, I'd never been to Mount Snowdon, and I'd not been on a bike for 15 years properly." To donate please go here.
Read more: Inside the uplifting and moving world of a children's hospice as told by the staff who work there
Matt, a vehicles trainer for the DVLA, said little Darcy has had a lot to contend with in her short life. "As a family it affects us hugely," he added. "We can't easily do the normal day-to-day stuff that your average family takes for granted. For example, a day at the beach for us doesn't just involve packing up a couple of towels, buckets and spades. For us, it involves taking Darcy's buggy, her syringes, feeds, and all her meds which we need to give her throughout the day. We can do things, for sure, but trips out are not as straightforward for us as they are for many other people."
Darcy's parents said they never thought she would be eligible to use Ty Hafan as they didn't think her needs would be great enough for hospice care. "But it turned out that she was eligible. We went there for our first visit in 2019, all five of us stayed there as a family," Matt said.
"We loved it. It feels like home from home. We feel normal at Ty Hafan. It feels like Darcy belongs there and we belong there as a family. It is so welcoming. On our very first visit Dave, the chef, spoke to us as if we'd been going there for years. When we got home our first thought was 'We can't wait to go back'.
"When we stay at the hospice it helps us all so much because Darcy has one-to-one care. For parents like us it's a huge help as we get a bit more rest. We can spend quality time with our other children, Aubree and Oakley. There's soft play, a hydro pool, a park outside. It’s like a little holiday for us."
Matt has already done some fundraising for Ty Hafan, including the very popular Rainbow Run in Swansea. But he said the #10nTaff Challenge, which has been organised by fellow dad Paul Fears, was in an entirely different league.
He added that he was particularly inspired by the support he and fellow Ty Hafan dads receive from the hospice as well as from each other. "For me, it's not just what Darcy gets from Ty Hafan. It's what we all get, including me," he said. "I benefit so much from being able to have conversations with other dads. We can share our experiences. This is stuff that I thought that I would never need, and I don't speak with other mates about this kind of thing because they can't relate to it.
"I think we've come a long way now - more men are talking about their feelings. I hate the phrase 'man-up'. Gary Speed took his own life. I think to myself that if he had felt that he had just one person he could really talk to about anything, perhaps he would not have felt that was the only option for him. For us Ty Hafan dads, there's no topic that’' off limits.
"Plus I know that if I need something, I know who to go to - Dan Notley, who runs the Dads group at Ty Hafan. I know I can speak to him if I need anything and he's always on hand for support when needed."
To find out more and to sponsor Matt and his fellow #10nTaff Dads and friends go to 5in55.co.uk/what-is-the-10ntaff-challenge
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