Sir Beefy

Trooping the Colour and celebrations for the Queen's official birthday were taking place just down the road and we had the pleasure of seeing the Red Arrows zoom across town, so we didn't feel like we missed out on the Southend Airshow. The Queen's official Birthday Honours were also released and one such award was very close to our hearts. Arise Sir Ian Terence Botham. Good ol' Beefy, not only was he one of the finest allrounder cricketers this country has ever produced, but his unrivalled efforts for raising money for Leukaemia Research knows no bounds.
Cricket, as many of you know is a true passion of mine and not only do I share some affinity with Beefy (maybe more off than) on the cricket field but there is also a recent shared passion with the fight against Leukaemia. My passion fuelled by recent events, Beefy's passion by his own admission.
I read his autobiography a number of years ago, and can remember the story behind his involvement with Leukaemia but I'll let this passage, from an article by Andrew Miller from Cricinfo, explain his his interest:

"It was a broken toe and a visit to a Somerset hospital that launched this second career, way back in 1977. He came across a ward of terminally ill children - reading and playing boardgames, and looking healthy in every regard other than the obvious. It left Botham, a young, rumbustuously healthy sportsman, dumbfounded and helpless. There had to be something he could do.
And so there was. In 1985, at the pinnacle of his career, he walked 900 miles from John O'Groats to Land's End to raise awareness of a dreadful blood disease that at the time claimed 80% of the lives of the children for whom it was diagnosed. In 1988, upping the ante as only he could, he crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants in a re-run of Hannibal's assault on Rome. He made it, the elephants didn't.
And on October 17, 2006, at the age of 50 and with £10 million raised directly through the soles of his feet (and an estimated £100 million through the ripple effect of his patronage) Botham completed his 11th such trek, striding down Oxford Street like the Open Champion on the final hole, with a cortège of exhausted friends, celebrities and mediamen trailing in his wake. By then, leukaemia's mortality rate had plummeted to 20%. There is no danger of him stinting in his efforts until that figure has reached zero."

The Full article can be read here: http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/298183.html
The award of a knighthood for Beefy is long overdue considering his feats both on and off the cricket field.
Sarah received her 3rd dose of Chemo this evening at 8pm, expecting to finish at around midnight and then her 4th dose is given in quick succession Sunday morning at 8am. The high level of Cytarabine that Sarah is receiving increases the known side-effects and Sarah is experiencing very high levels of tiredness and she is left feeling "spaced" out but we all know Sarah's resilience and we would both like to personally thank Sir Ian for all his efforts in helping raise money for Leukaemia - Beefy you certainly deserve you knighthood. Thank you.