My Kidney45challenge Australian Adventure

Sorry this update is a bit late. October and November was a good month of challenges. As you maybe aware  the family and I went on holiday to Western Australia with the mother in law and father in law (who kindly paid for the holiday).  I want to thank them for treating us to the holiday, as we would not have been able to afford it ourselves. Anyway, we arrived in Australia on the 15th October and stayed for about a month. First we stayed in a hotel in Perth for a couple of days and then we shared a villa in a place called Minderie.  Minderie is a small harbour on the coast about 22 miles north of Perth. We had an amazing time and I attempted a few challenges whilst I was away.

They were as follows:-

27. Eat Crocodile and Kangaroo

I did this challenge instead of a bush tucker challenge as I found it difficult find a place that offered bush tucker. So in the end I went to a restaurant that did kangaroo and crocodile instead. I tried kangaroo kebabs, Crocodile kebabs and crocodile ribs. I must admit they were very nice indeed.

28. Climb the leaning tower of Gingin (222 steps high)

We took a trip to a place called the gravity discovery centre near Gingin.  The centre was amazing. It had an interactive science museum, a cosmology gallery which had art from different background depicting science and the stars and the leaning tower of Gingin. Which is tower than leans at 15 degrees and consisted of 222 steps. I climbed the leaning tower  and standing at 45 metres high it was a huge challenge getting to the top. But I did it.

View from the top

29. Eat jelly fish and century eggs (Chinese delicacy)

One evening we visited a Chinese restaurant in Perth . I had a Chinese delicacy called jelly fish and century eggs, which is basically pickled jelly fish with fermented rotten eggs. It was an acquired taste and I was almost sick. But I ate it and completed the challenge.

30. 10km Bush Walk

We took a trip to the John Forrest national park which is a huge national park near Perth. And I did a 10 km Bush walk around the park. I went along an old railway trail and saw waterfalls and very pretty landscape. It was very very very hard work as it was very hot (above 30C). It was so hard that there was a point that I did not think I would make it back to the car. But I did. I was very exhausted and hot at the end of it.

31. Take a picture of a whale whilst whale watching.

One day we went whale watching from Hillary’s harbour. The boat set off from Hillary’s harbour at about 9 am and we cruised between Rottnest island and Fremantle looking for whales. We were out for about 4 hours and we saw plenty of whales but it was very difficult trying to take a picture of them with my phone.

32. Get a selfie with a Kangaroo

We saw plenty of Kangaroos whilst we were away. We saw a few when we visited Yanchep National Park. It was very difficult getting close to them to get a salfie but I managed a quick picture in the end.

33. Play the didgeridoo

Whilst we were at Yanchep National Park we went to an aboriginal talk experience where we learnt loads about their culture and way of life. And whilst I was there I attempted the didgeridoo. Although it did sound like a damp fart :).

The biggest challenge though was…. 34)  Spending a month with my in-laws. Yes, I spent a month in the same villa with my mother in law and although their was the odd disagreement I survived, just :).

However, I think I did way too much whilst I was away as I have not been that well since we arrived back in the uk. Which is why its taken me so long to write this blog. And so as a result I will only be attempting 1 challenge in December and that’s to write a poem about my condition 45 words in length. As I have about 10 challenges left I will be continuing my challenges into next year.

As you know I am doing 45 challenges to raise awareness for kidney disease, organ donation  and raise money for the British Kidney Patient Association (BKPA). So far I have raised about £350. So come on every body, please sponsor me,

http://www.justgiving.com/kidney45challenge/

By the way, if you are not on the organ donation register, sign up below. Organ Donation Save Lives

www.organdonation.nhs.uk/

kidney45challenges for September

Sorry this challenge update is a bit late, but I have been taking a break from doing challenges.

Anyway in September I am afraid I only completed 1 challenge which was very tiring. I did a 5 mile walk and as a result I was not very well for a couple of days and so I decided to have a break from doing any challenges for a bit. As a result I have not done any challenges since beginning of September.

I am going on holiday to Australia soon with my in-laws who have kindly paid for it.  I hope to attempt some challenges whilst I am away but spending time with my in-laws could be considered a challenge in itself :).

So while I am away I plan to attempt the following challenges:-

27. Write a poem about my condition 45 words in length

28. Bush tucker challenge

29. Have a selfie taken with some kangaroos 

30. Get an upgrade on the flight

As you know I am doing 45 challenges to raise awareness for kidney disease, organ donation  and raise money for the British Kidney Patient Association (BKPA). So far I have raised about £350. So come on every body, please sponsor me,

http://www.justgiving.com/kidney45challenge/

By the way, if you are not on the organ donation register, sign up below. Organ Donation Save Lives

www.organdonation.nhs.uk/

Stop clowning around… kidney45challenge update :)

Sorry this challenge update is a bit late, but I have not been all that well for the past couple of days.

Anyway, August was a busy month of challenges.

At the beginning of the month I completed Challenge 20 (Dress up as a clown) and Challenge 21 (Run a tombola stall at a charity event). We were at the Big day out in Nantwich and raised £70 on the tombola for the British Kidney Patient Association.

Then I completed Challenge 22, mow the lawn naked. Here are the pictures which have been censored so as not to offend anyone.

And over the bank holiday weekend I  completed 3 challenges. They were challenge 23 (3 mile walk), Challenge 24 (wear pants on outside of trousers) and Challenge 25 (ice bath challenge).

And here is the video for the ice bath challenge.

For September I have a couple of challenges planned.

They are a 5 mile walk, hold a tarantula and  a snake.  I was wondering if any one knew of any body that has a snake or tarantula that I could use for my challenges. If you do, please let me know.

As you know I am doing 45 challenges to raise awareness for kidney disease, organ donation  and raise money for the British Kidney Patient Association (BKPA). So far I have raised about £300. Some come on every body, please sponsor me,

http://www.justgiving.com/kidney45challenge/

Catch you next time :).

By the way, if you are not on the organ donation register, sign up below. Organ Donation Save Lives

www.organdonation.nhs.uk/

kidney45challenges for July

Sorry this challenge update is a bit late, its been a busy couple of days.

Anyway in July I am afraid I only completed 1 challenge due to health reasons and the bad weather. So the other challenges have been postponed to later in the year.

But I have completed challenge 19, wear a badly fitted toupee for 3 days. I looked really silly but my lovely wife Simone Derbyshire really hate it. Here are the pictures :).

In August I plan to attempt the following challenges:-

20. Dress up as a clown

21. Run a tombola stall at a charity event

22. Mow the lawn naked.

23. Malkins Bank Circular Walk (6 miles).

24. Wear Pants on outside of trousers for a day

25. Ice bath challenge

As you know I am doing 45 challenges to raise awareness for kidney disease, organ donation  and raise money for the British Kidney Patient Association (BKPA). So far I have raised about £330. So come on every body, please sponsor me,

http://www.justgiving.com/kidney45challenge/

By the way, if you are not on the organ donation register, sign up below. Organ Donation Save Lives

www.organdonation.nhs.uk/

What have you done to my hair???

June was a busy month of challenges.

I combined challenge 15, dress up as a women for the day, and challenge 17, the brereten heath 1 mile walk .  It was a fun day dressing up as women but rather embarrassing walking around brereten heath in my dress. I even took a trip to visit the in-laws who thought I looked really good. But by the end of the day I was sure glad to take off the bra. I don’t know how you ladies manage :).

Challenge 18 was to write a blog about my condition and share it with as many people as possible. Read the blog here. I shared it on social media and it had a lot of readers.

My last challenge for the month was challenge 16, shave my head. I picked the hottest day of the year and my wife chopped all my off. It felt very weird indeed.

My planned challenges for July are:-

19. Wear a badly fitted toupee for 3 days

20. Mow the lawn naked (providing I don’t get arrested lol)

21. Pet a snake (does any body have a snake I can pet)

22. Malkins Bank Circular Walk (2.6 miles).

As you know I am doing 45 challenges to raise awareness for kidney disease, organ donation  and raise money for the British Kidney Patient Association (BKPA). So if you want sponsor me, it would be very much appreciated.

http://www.justgiving.com/kidney45challenge/

Catch you next time :).

By the way, if you are not on the organ donation register, sign up below. Organ Donation Save Lives

www.organdonation.nhs.uk/

That blew my mind

In May I have completed challenge 13, the hot curry challenge. I made an extremely hot tuna curry with 4 scotch bonnet chilies, 6 finger chillies, 1 tablespoon of hot curry powder and 1 tablespoon of hot chilli powder….. It blew my mind but was rather nice.

Unfortunately I have not done any other challenges in May. But in June I plan to attempt the following challenges:-

14. Learn to dance the Samba (year challenge)

15. Dress up as a women for a day

16. Shave head.

17. Bereten Heath 1 mile walk

18. Write a blog about my condition and share it online with as many people as possible

As you know I am doing 45 challenges to raise awareness for kidney disease, organ donation  and raise money for the British Kidney Patient Association (BKPA). So far I have raised about £290. Some come on every body, please sponsor me,

http://www.justgiving.com/kidney45challenge/

My challenges have been going really well and the BKPA have been very positive about my campaign. I feel extremely positive and happy that the kidney45challenge is having an impact. But what made me smile the most was a comment made on a post I made on Facebook the other day. They said “Wow Darren what an inspiration you truly are. I’m also waiting on a transplant so I completely understand your health situation. God I thought I’m a positive person. You blow me out the water. If only everyone in life had your enthusiasm. Very well done. Incredible. I will try and think up some challenges lol.” This has made me realise that maybe I am making a difference.  

Catch you next time :).

By the way, if you are not on the organ donation register, sign up below. Organ Donation Save Lives

www.organdonation.nhs.uk/

kidney45challenge April Update

Hi every one.

This is an update on the kidney45challenge. Well, I have completed all 3 challenges for April.

The challenges were:-

Challenge 10) Not to alcohol for a month.

I have completed this challenge. I thought this was going relatively easy for me as I do not drink much but there have been a couple of times when I have fancied a cold lager.

Challenge 11) Don’t speak for a whole day

I completed this challenge on Saturday 25th April 2015. I used a notepad and pen to communicate. This was an extremely difficult challenge for me to do. But I just about managed it.

Challenge 12) Complete 25 push ups and 50 sit ups in one go

Well I successfully completed this challenge yesterday but felt exhausted and really bad afterwards. I was completely shattered for the rest of the day. I am still feeling a bit poorly today. Maybe I will have to rethink weather I can complete physical challenges or not in the future. See Video below.

The challenges planned for May are:-

Challenge 13. Dress up as a women for a day

Challenge 14. Learn to dance the Samba (Year challenge)

Challenge 15. Hot chilli or Curry Challenge.

I am still looking for more ideas. So if you have any challenge ideas please let me know.

http://www.kidney45challenge.com

 

What have I done to my Hair????

Hi every one.

This is an update on the kidney45challenge. Well, I have completed 3 challenges for march. But due to health reasons (not been well for a week or so) I have had to postpone 2 challenges till later in the year.

The challenges were:-

Challenge 7) Not to drink tea , coffee, coke or any caffeine drinks for a month.

I thought this was going to be extremely difficult for me as I do love a cup of tea in the morning but I have found this relatively easy and not missed tea, coffee or coke.

Challenge 8) Learn to speak Spanish (year challenge).

I have started this challenge and will learn to speak Spanish with my son.

Challenge 9) Dye hair red or pink.

I chose pink. The first attempt to dye my hair was unsuccessful as my hair is too dark. So we decided it was best if we bleached my hair first and dye it blonde before trying to dyeing it pink.

I’m blonde 🙂

what have I done to my hair???

The challenges for April are:-

Challenge 10. Don’t drink alcohol for a month

Challenge 11. Don’t speak for the whole day.

Challenge 12. Complete 25 push ups and 50 sit ups in one go

I am still looking for more ideas. So if you have any challenge ideas please let me know.

http://www.kidney45challenge.com

Why am I doing this? Well to raise awareness for kidney disease and organ transplantation.

 •More than 10,000 people need an organ transplant in the UK.

•3,000 people a year die while on dialysis and more than 350 people a year die while waiting for a kidney transplant, that’s one person every day. The average waiting time for a kidney on the transplant list is about 1,000 days.

•Around 6000 people are on the waiting list for a kidney transplant

•Only 2500 kidney transplantations take place each year.

Organ Donation Save Lives

www.organdonation.nhs.uk/

As well as raising awareness it is my intention to raise money for the British Kidney Patient Association who do wonderful work for those affected by kidney disease by providing grants to those that need it. And without their help last year I would not have been able to go on holiday to Mexico with my family.

Some come on every body, please sponsor me and put yourself on the donor list.

http://www.justgiving.com/kidney45challenge/

Catch you next time :).

Parliament, Radio and No Currys for a month

Hi every one.

This is an update on the kidney45challenge. Well, what a busy couple of days its has been trying to complete the challenges for February. It has been very tiring.

So what were my challenges for february?

Challenge 3) Not to eat spicy food or any food containing chillies, curry or spices for a month.

I thought this was going to be extremely difficult for me as I love my hot spicy food and have a curry 2 or 3 times a week. At the start of the month Simone, my lovely wife, hid all my spices, chillies and curry stuff at my mother-in-laws so that I wasn’t tempted. And I achieved it :). I managed a whole month without eating anything spicy. And on Tuesday (which coincidently is my birthday) I will treat myself to a curry.

Challenge 4) Get invited to downing street to meet the prime minister.

Well this was sort of completed. But instead of Downing street I was invited to the houses of parliament to meet the prime Minister (David Cameron) and my local MP (Edward Timpson).

last month I sent an email to Downing Street explaining my situation and my 45 challenges. And that 1 of the challenges was to meet the PM. I got a lovely letter back from the PM inviting me and family to see the PM at parliament. So on the 25th february we took the train down to London and was met by a nice young man called Dan Large who showed us around the houses of parliament and explained the history behind which was very interesting. We were then met by Edward Timpson and ushered into an office with David Cameron. David Cameron was a lovely man and took time out of his busy schedule to talk to us. We chatted about my health, my 45 challenges, organ donation and then he had a chat with Oscar about him being Home Educated. I must admit I was bit starstruck and loss for words. It was all very surreal :).

 

Challenge 5) Appear on local radio.

I was invited by Liz Southall from RedShift Radio (which is the local online radio station for crewe) to appear on her shown on Thursday 26th February. We chatted about my illness, organ donation and my 45 challenges.

And Challenge 6) Learn to count to 20 in Welsh.

Well I have completed this. This was very difficult as it is extremely difficult to remember things (due to my condition) I found it very hard to retain it. Plus I have been extremely tired and fatigued the past couple of days but I did it. Here is a short video.

So what are my challenges for March? They are:-

Challenge 7. Dont drink tea, coffee, coke or caffeine drinks for a month

Challenge 8. Complete 25 push ups and 50 sit ups in one go

Challenge 9. Dye hair red

Challenge 10. Learn to speak spanish (year challenge)

Challenge 11. Hot Chili or Curry Challenge

I have 35 challenges planned so far for this year, so still looking for more ideas.

http://www.kidney45challenge.com

If you have any challenge ideas please let me know.

So why am I doing this, Well to raise awareness for kidney disease and organ transplantation.

 •More than 10,000 people need an organ transplant in the UK.

•3,000 people a year die while on dialysis and more than 350 people a year die while waiting for a kidney transplant, that’s one person every day. The average waiting time for a kidney on the transplant list is about 1,000 days.

•Around 6000 people are on the waiting list for a kidney transplant

•Only 2500 kidney transplantations take place each year.

Organ Donation Save Lives

www.organdonation.nhs.uk/

As well as raising awareness it is my intention to raise money for the British Kidney Patient Association who do wonderful work for those affected by kidney disease by providing grants to those that need it. And without their help last year I would not have been able to go on holiday to Mexico with my family.

Some come on every body, please sponsor me,

http://www.justgiving.com/kidney45challenge/

Catch you next time :).

I did it, Challenge 1, not shaving for a month, completed

Hi every one.

Well, I did it… I managed a whole month without shaving. It was hard at first as it was extremely itchy.

Day 2

Day 5

Day 15

Day 25

Day 31

And so today… It was shaved all off:)

So that’s it, the challenges planned for january have been completed. Challenge 2, if you recall, was to stay in bed all day which I did back at the beginning of the month.

My next challenges for february are:-

1) Not to eat spicy food or any food containing chillies, curry or spices for a month. This is going to be extremely difficult for me as I love my hot spicy food and have a curry 2 or 3 times a week. Simone, will be hiding all my spices, chillies and curry stuff. I had my last curry take away for a month last night :(.

2) Get invited to downing street to meet the prime minister. Well I am working on this as we speak. WATCH THIS SPACE.

3) Appear on local radio, Well this is going to happen towards end of february, again, WATCH THIS SPACE.

And 4) Learn to count to 20 in Welsh. This is going to be hard.  :).

I have 35 challenges planned so far for this year, so still looking for more ideas.

http://www.kidney45challenge.com

If you have any challenge ideas please let me know.

So why am I doing this, Well to raise awareness for kidney disease and organ transplantation.

 •More than 10,000 people need an organ transplant in the UK.

•3,000 people a year die while on dialysis and more than 350 people a year die while waiting for a kidney transplant, that’s one person every day. The average waiting time for a kidney on the transplant list is about 1,000 days.

•Around 6000 people are on the waiting list for a kidney transplant

•Only 2500 kidney transplantations take place each year.

Organ Donation Save Lives

www.organdonation.nhs.uk/

As well as raising awareness it is my intention to raise money for the British Kidney Patient Association who do wonderful work for those affected by kidney disease by providing grants to those that need it. And without their help last year I would not have been able to go on holiday to Mexico with my family.

Some come on every body, please sponsor me,

http://www.justgiving.com/kidney45challenge/

Catch you next time :).