Monday, September 15, 2014

A tumble and an inspirational encounter

Emdad Rahman

"I was never really insane except upon occasions when my heart was touched." - Edgar Allan Poe

As I descended Scafell Pike I lost my footing and took a clumsy tumble. It could have been really bad and I fell on my back. Just before hitting the deck I swivelled a little in mid air and avoided full impact on my spine. I ended up with some muscle pain and hurt my left knee a little as well as my forehead. I was already taking medication for the right knee so that's all I needed eh?

Firstly, I was very fortunate to have Moklis, Mosh, Akik and Omar with me and these fellas sorted me out pronto; one stretched my legs, one sprinkled water and kept me talking, one rubbed my back and one lifted up my head. Looking back I can't thank you guys enough for being there. We had initially feared the worst. It could have been terrible and changed everything.

I was back with the earthlings literally within 30 seconds. As I was coming to I could make out a new voice. He insisted in waiting with us until I confirmed finally that I was good to go. His name is Chris and he used to climb hills with his daughter Keira. She succumbed and lost her life to cancer. Her dying wish was for her ashes to be scattered at the summit of Scafell Pike. Chris did this and he frequently hikes to the top as it gives him peace. When he scattered Keira's ashes he also threw some glitter and shiny stars in too. He found one of the shiny red stars when he reached the summit this time.

Chris' story was enough to give me the strength I needed to get up and carry on the descent. We embraced and I asked for this pic (Thanks Akik).

On Friday I am taking part in Maggie's Culture Crawl 2014.l where I will head out with thousands into the night, discovering cultural, architectural and artistic delights, raising as much as we can to help people living with cancer.

Working in partnership with Open House London, Maggie’s Culture Crawl is part 15 mile night-walk, part cultural adventure.

From the Foreign Office, to Fulham Palace by way of the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, we’ll get exclusive access to all these buildings and many others, encountering talented performers and enjoying delicious food and drink along the way.

I've decided to dedicate this run to the memory of Keira.

Thank you for the opportunity to meet and spend a few very valuable moments with you Chris. God bless!

"That's the ideal meeting...once upon a time, only once, unexpectedly, then never again." - Helen Oyeyemi

www.maggiescentres.org/culturecrawl/

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