Olivia's cycling challenge raises thousands for children's wards

A young girl from Chichester is celebrating an incredible achievement.
Olivia at Piam Brown WardOlivia at Piam Brown Ward
Olivia at Piam Brown Ward

Olivia Baggott was only 11 when she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in September 2017.

After being treated, she decided to take on a different sort of challenge to give something back to the hospital teams who had taken care of her and supported her through such a scary time.

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Olivia said: “I entered a world I didn’t even know existed and I faced challenges I didn’t know I was capable of dealing with.

Presenting a cheque to the Howard Ward teamPresenting a cheque to the Howard Ward team
Presenting a cheque to the Howard Ward team

“I owe my life to some pretty incredible people who work tirelessly to provide the best possible treatment and care for people like me.”

The challenge involved riding her bike for 116 miles - one mile for every night she spent in hospital - to raise funds for Howard Ward at St. Richard’s Hospital, Chichester and Piam Brown Ward at Southampton Children’s Hospital (where she received treatment) to support their services for children suffering with cancer.

Although she set herself the goal of cycling 116 miles during the month of October, Olivia hit the target three days early, and ended up cycling 117.6 miles in total. She took on this challenge only seven months after chemotherapy, and has now presented the cheques to the two wards. The cheque presentations took place shortly before Christmas.

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Through her cycling achievement, Olivia has raised thousands of pounds: £416 was given to Howard Ward at St Richard’s Hospital, and £2,859.75 was presented to Piam Brown Ward at Southampton Children’s Hospital.

For more information about Olivia’s fundraising challenge, visit her JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Oliviabaggott116.