Businessman leads team in epic 3,000-mile transatlantic row to drive support for people with MND
‘Motor Neurone Disease is just so horrific we have to stand together and do something about it.’
That’s the powerful motivation driving Northamptonshire business owner Matt Sirrell who will be one of four men taking part in an extraordinary 3,000-mile transatlantic row to raise money for the MND Association later this year.
Tomorrow, Saturday, Matt and the Fourtitude team, David Watts, Peter Haymes and Tom Foster, together with the boat which will carry them from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to English Harbour in Antigua and Barbuda, will be at Franklin’s Gardens – home of the Northampton Saints – as they prepare to take on their East Midlands rivals, Leicester Tigers.
As well as helping to raise awareness of the challenge, which will take around 40 days, Matt and the team are hoping to use Saturday’s launch event to raise money for the Northampton-based MND Association – the largest charity funder of MND research in the UK.
Every day six people are diagnosed with MND – a terminal, neurological disease. It strips people of their independence and leaves them unable to speak, eat or breathe.
“All four of us have enjoyed sport in the past and I cannot imagine the horror of being diagnosed with a disease like MND and having that taken away,” said Matt, who owns MSL Logistics in Preston Deanery.
“We’ve all seen the stories of people like rugby league legend Rob Burrow who was diagnosed with MND at the prime of his life and I just can’t stand by and let it happen. It pricks at my conscience and makes the fire inside burn even stronger.”
While he admits the challenge was partly borne out of a ‘midlife crisis,’ Matt and his teammates are now well into their training for the event which starts on 12 December.
He said: “I’m very grateful for the fact that we have training programme in place – for the physical side of the challenge but the mental side too. I would say the physical side accounts for around 20% while the mental side is more like 80%.
“While I would shy away from saying we are putting ourselves into harm’s way, we have had to have some important conversations, in particular with our spouses. The support we have between us and from them has been absolutely critical.”
The challenge is certainly not for the fainthearted. Apart from seemingly endless days at sea, crews can expect to battle sleep deprivation, a range of powerful emotions, seasickness and pain.
Matt said: “People really want to know the answers to two questions, ‘where do you sleep and where do you go to the loo?’ The answers are in two cabins at the front and the back of the back of the boat in two-hour stints and in a bucket called Lucy!”
The team is now calling on the local business community to get involved as corporate sponsors.
He said: “We would love for the community to get behind us. To the whole MND community your support really matters.”
For more information, or to donate, visit www.donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/fourtitude or contact [email protected]