3 Peaks Challenge for Oscar

Proinsight Managing Director, David Hopkins, will be taking on the National Three Peaks challenge this weekend to raise awareness and money for the charity Thinking of Oscar.  David and a group of friends will be aiming to scale the heights of Mount Snowdon, in Wales (1085m), Scaffell Pike, in England (978m) and Ben Nevis, in Scotland (1345m) over the space of just 24 hours. Whilst this may sound like the stuff of nightmares; it is nothing compared to the heartbreaking tale of the little boy this is all in aid of, Oscar Noah Cole.

Oscar was born, on February 6th 2013, weighing in at a healthy 9lbs 5oz. He spent the 16 months of his short life smiling, laughing, more recently chattering and running around, whilst absorbing everything around him with his big brown eyes.

Oscar had been under the weather for a few weeks with frequent high temperatures and occasionally reluctant to walk or run around. After numerous trips to the GP he was admitted to hospital on Monday 2nd June and diagnosed with Osteomylitis in his spine; a rare but not life threatening condition. He was discharged on June 9th only to be readmitted again two days later having developed an infection.

Events took a sudden and unexpected turn for the worse on the night of Wednesday 18th June and he died of a massive brain injury, on Thursday 19th June. Months of investigation and analysis followed and finally at the beginning of this year we it was understood what was most likely to have caused Oscar’s death. Essentially it was a combination of bad luck and bad timing with Oscar contracting Rotavirus during his treatment which in turn may have lead to Encephalitis, which is a very rare outcome.

Thinking of Oscar is a charity set up in memory of Oscar Cole, aiming to improve the experiences of young children and their families whilst in hospital care. David will be looking to channel some of the immense bravery shown by Oscar and completing this challenge to raise some money and awareness for this truly worthwhile cause.

Anyone interested in helping David can do so by donating any amount at https://www.justgiving.com/teams/3peaksforoscar. Please share.