RACE ACROSS EUROPE

On the 3^rd July 2018 The Steve Prescott Foundation are entering an      8-man team with support crew who will attempt to cycle 3000 miles     in 6 days and set a new 8-man record and win the race.

The Race across Europe is a 4721km (2,933miles) race through
France, Germany, Austria, Italy Slovenia, Spain & Gibraltar. It crosses the
Alps twice, The Pyranees Once and climbs over the cobbled VRSIC Pass (1,611m), Mont Ventoux (1,912m) and the Colle Dell’ Agnello (3^rd Highest Paved road pass in the Alps), Amongst many others. The Fastest time yet for completing the race is 7 Days, 10 Hours and 24 Minutes.

The Race Starts in Boulogne sur Mer, tracks North through the
French Ardennes and crosses the Rhine into Germany. From here it climbs briefly into the Black Forest and onto a high plain that traverses East across Germany in to Austria before heading south into Italy then immediately East into Slovenia to cross the Vrsic Pass. The route then descends back into Italy and heads due west, crossing the Colle Dell’Agnello back into France.

Stephen Prescott MBE

(26 December 1973 – 9 November 2013) was a professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s.

Steve made his début for St Helens in 1993, and became the club's first
choice fullback. He made his International début in 1996, playing for England in their 1996 European Championship victory. Also that year he helped Saints win the Super League Championship and Challenge Cup. He went on to win a second consecutive Challenge Cup with the club in 1997, but was sold to Hull F.C. at the end of the season. After spending two years at Hull, Steve joined Wakefield Trinity in 2000, but re-joined Hull a year later after being released. He changed his international allegiance to Ireland, who he represented at the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. He also made one appearance for Lancashire in 2003, but suffered a serious knee injury while playing for the team, which ultimately ended his playing career.

In 2006, Steve was diagnosed with a rare form of stomach cancer and was given months to live. He set up the Steve Prescott Foundation in 2007, and went on to organise a series of money-raising initiatives. He raised almost half a million pounds for charity through the foundation, and was awarded an MBE in 2009 for his efforts. After a long battle with the disease, he died in 2013,aged 39. On 5 March 2014 the Rugby Football League announced that the Man of Steel award would be renamed after Steve and is now known as the Steve Prescott
Man of Steel Award.

What the Charity means to myself

The Steve Prescott foundation has been very close to my heart since it
was set up, the concept of this was for charities to receive the benefits of his Steve’s own fundraising activities.

Steve set up the Steve Prescott Foundation in 2007, which aimed to raise funds for the following organisations: The Christie, Rugby League Benevolent fund and Oxford Transplant.

He went on to arrange a number of charity boxing tournaments and rugby league games. He has also took part in a series of challenges, including running in the London Marathon and cycling from LEJOG while completing the National Three Peaks Challenge en route.

Four years ago Steve passed away after an intense battle against Pseudomyxoma Peritonei. The impact on our family has been enormous. Steve was a loving father, husband, son and brother and to have him taken from us at such a young age has been devastating, 39 is too young an age to pass. The gap that has been left with Steve’s passing can never be filled and it’s been a daily battle coping with the loss, only through undertaking endurance events and raising funds in his memory has helped me to gain some peace. I fundraise in the hope that other families do not have to experience the sad loss that my family has endured.

Pseudomyxoma does not discriminate and unfortunately can impact anyone at any time. This is something The Steve Prescott Foundation is looking to change through funding science and research in order to try to eradicate this terrible disease.

My brother was a massive inspiration to me and through him I learned important lessons in life: “what the mind believes the body achieves” & “a challenge is not a challenge unless it’s challenging”.

What is Pseudomyxoma Peritonei?

Pseudomyxoma peritonei is often abbreviated to PMP.

In most cases, it starts in the appendix; more rarely, it can
start in other parts of the body such as the bowel, an ovary or the bladder.

It affects around two people per million each year of all ages, both
men and women.

A tumour develops in the appendix from a polyp which is a small
growth on the inner lining of your appendix. Left untreated, the tumour grows and eventually bursts through the wall of the appendix into your abdominal cavity where more tumours then develop.

These tumours then secrete a jelly-like substance called mucin
which accumulates in your abdominal cavity. It is this build-up of mucin that causes symptoms, the abdomen swells leading to the characteristic ‘jelly belly’ and vital organs are compressed.

Spotting the symptoms

Pseudomyxoma peritonei symptoms usually take a while to appear; some patients don’t show any symptoms for several years.

As the symptoms of PMP vary widely among patients, it’s hard to say
what to look for. As the disease progresses, many patients report:

•    Abdominal swelling or an increase in abdominal girth

•    Changes in bowel habit

•    Loss of appetite

•    Pelvic or abdominal pain

•    General fatigue

•    Bowel irritation

These symptoms can be caused by lots of medical conditions other
than PMP. However, due to the nature of this cancer, it’s vital to rule out pseudomyxoma peritonei as a cause.

Where can I go for treatment?

In the UK, there’s two hospitals which are recommended by the National
Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for
the treatment of pseudomyxoma peritonei. These are the Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital and the Christie Hospital in Manchester.

The Christie

The Charity exists to raise funds and receive donations for the benefit of the patients of The Christie NHS Foundation Trust so that they can be offered access to leading treatments, outstanding care and the opportunity for the best outcomes. The Christie charity raises money for a range of vital projects and initiatives focusing on four main areas: research, care and treatment, education and extra patient services. It delivers projects, equipment and improvements that are over and above what the NHS funds, enabling them to give patients access to the best possible care, research and treatment possible. Without the support of the fantastic fundraisers they would not be able to give their patients and their families the level of care and support that they need. The Christie NHS Foundation Trust treats more than 44,000 patients each year and has been delivering world-first breakthroughs for over 100 years. It is ranked as one of the top 10 most technologically advanced cancer centres in the world outside North America and is the largest single site cancer centre in Europe. The Christie has long been a pioneer in clinical trials and research and without the pioneering work of the Trust, hospitals around the world would not be using Cancer drugs. The Christie charity supports the development of cancer prevention, treatment, research and education through investment in staff, equipment, facilities and other support services.

The SPF Special Causes Fund

In 2015 the SPF announced the creation of the SPF Special Causes Fund. This fund allows hospitals, researchers and surgeons who deal in Psuedomyxoma related conditions and multi visceral transplantation to apply for grants to the Trustees of the SPF who will ensure that the money allocated will have a direct and significant effect on people’s lives.  Already other PMP patients have benefitted from the lessons learned from Steve’s transplant operation and are a testimony to Steve’s sacrifice. Dr Anil Vaidya is a renowned transplant surgeon with a special interest in intestinal and multi-visceral transplantation techniques for the cure of slow growing abdominal malignancies that conventional therapy has failed to treat. Dr Anil led the intestinal transplant team in Oxford along with Professor Peter Friend, Mr Srikanth Reddy and Mr Henk Giele (plastic surgery) who performed the 32-hour pioneering life-saving modified multi visceral and abdominal wall transplant on Steve in October 2013 at the Oxford Intestinal Transplant Centre. Steve had battled Pseudomyxoma Peritonei (PMP), a tumour arising in his abdomen, for more than seven years after diagnosis. He underwent a Multi visceral transplant and although this procedure had been done for other indications, it was a world first for a PMP patient. Steve underwent this operation safely and had managed to defeat his tumour. However he very sadly succumbed to acute graft versus host disease. Through his bravery and challenge that he had set on to himself by being the first to undergo this procedure, Steve paved a way in a field that has become beneficial for other sufferers of PMP. Transplantation is now an option for some sufferers of PMP, an option that was not there before his epic battle. The Trustees of the Steve Prescott Foundation are delighted to support Dr Anil Vaidya in his research by awarding him a donation of £20,000 from the SPF Special Causes Fund in 2015 and 2016.

The RFL Benevolent Fund

Established in 2005 in order to raise funds to support players whose  lives are affected by serious injuries sustained playing Rugby League. This can be in the form of providing rehabilitation beyond that offered bythe state, or improving the quality of life when unfortunately  rehabilitation is no longer an option. It was set up for the relief of people (and their dependants) who play, assist, or who have played or assisted in the game of rugby league in the united kingdom or for a team affiliated to an association primarily based in the United Kingdom and who are in hardship or distress as a result of injury through playing or training for the game of rugby football league or when travelling to or from a game or training session.

The Oxford Transplant Unit

The Trust is made up of four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, the Churchill Hospital and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, all located in Oxford, and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury, North Oxfordshire. The Hospitals provide a wide range of clinical services, specialist services (including cardiac, cancer, musculoskeletal and neurological rehabilitation) medical education, training and research. The Hospitals collaboration with the University of Oxford underpins the quality of the care that is provided to patients, from the delivery of high-quality research, bringing innovation from the laboratory bench to the bedside, to the delivery of high-quality education and training of doctors. Existing collaborations include the ambitious research programmes established through the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), located on the John Radcliffe Hospital site and at the Biomedical Research Unit in musculoskeletal disease at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre. These set the standard in translating science and research into new and better NHS clinical care.