Posted on September 5th 2024
An outpouring of love in support of an 11-year-old with PH has raised thousands for our charity and brought huge comfort to her family.
Quinn Cattermole was diagnosed with the rare disease at the start of the year, and August saw friends and family come together to organise a sponsored cycle and family fun day – with another event on the way.
In his own words, Quinn’s uncle James shares their fundraising story…
“Everything changed in January 2024 when my niece Quinn was rushed into Bristol Children’s Hospital following what was meant to be a routine check-up in Gloucester. She was quickly diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (IPAH) and it became very clear she was seriously ill and that this diagnosis would have huge and life-changing consequences.
Quinn’s diagnosis has changed not only Quinn’s life but the family unit as a whole. We are a very close family, and this news has obviously been extremely difficult to process and is something we are still very much in the process of coming to terms with.
Quinn herself has been nothing short of incredible over these past few months, she is sunshine, and she has been brave and resilient in ways no 11-year-old should have to be.
Her Mum and Dad, Anna and Jamie, and her little sister Joni, have been the strongest family around her, giving her everything she needs in such difficult times. Words don’t do their love, courage and support the credit they deserve.
One thing that cannot be understated is the outpouring of love we have had around us over the last few months. In particular, we are in a very unique and fortunate position that we have this friendship group that has really become family over the years.
Starting out as friends of Quinn’s Mum Anna from as young as primary school, to what now includes husbands, wives and our tribe of children, including Quinn, now forging their own strong friendships, we have created a really tightknit group.
The news of Quinn’s diagnosis hit the group hard but the love and support they have shown Quinn and our family has been truly astonishing. They have wanted to help in any way that they can, and it was from this unwavering support that our fundraising through Quinnfest and Spin for Quinn came about.
The idea for Quinnfest began on a sunny Sunday afternoon during the Easter holiday’s when two of our friends, Aimee and Joel, came up with the idea of holding a family fun day. It started as an idea to get Quinn’s loved ones together with some music and games and for her and her friends in particular to have some fun all together, with the hope to also raise a little money to be able to support the Cattermole family.
When we brought this initial idea to Quinn’s Mum and Dad, Anna and Jamie, they told us about PHA UK and the idea began to snowball from there to raise money for and awareness of PH.
In addition, two of our other friends, Sian and Sam, had been to visit Quinn during her stay in Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and left determined to organise some sort of fundraiser to help support Quinn.
Over the years me and some of the guys in our friendship group have taken on physical challenges, including the CarTen Cycle and the Tough Mudder challenge, to keep fit and raise money for various charities close to us. Following Quinn’s diagnosis it was clear that this year’s challenge would be aimed at raising awareness of PH as a condition and raising money for PHA UK and to support The Cattermole family.
Sian and Sam and Aimee and Joel put their heads together and the idea of Spin for Quinn was hatched – a unique 55-mile cycle ride, cycling between 8 castles in Pembrokeshire on the same weekend as Quinnfest.
Myself and my wife Sarah got involved to help with the planning and organising of Quinnfest and Spin for Quinn and we were blown away by the support and generosity of people.
From our initial idea of a family fun day with our nearest and dearest we ended up putting on a full day event at Pembroke Rugby Club with stalls, attractions, fairground rides, live music and performances.
Our friends worked tirelessly contacting local businesses and the whole community got behind us, donating their time, facilities and raffle prizes for free, enabling us to put on a truly special day and to raise as much awareness and money as possible.
We also ended up with a team of 8 of us, including myself and Quinn’s Dad Jamie, doing the Spin for Quinn challenge. The boys worked so hard and completed the 55 miles as a team in a great time.
We cannot say a big enough thank you to every person that donated, attended, cycled, organised, promoted, shifted, lifted and supported in every way possible. It was truly a team effort and the support and help that PHA UK have given us along our fundraising journey has been amazing.
We are just thrilled that we have been able to raise the money that we have so far, and we’re not finished yet as we are holding a Bikeathon in the Asda in Cribbs Causeway in September, to recreate the Spin for Quinn cycle, on two static bikes throughout the day. So watch this space!”
The bikeathon takes place on Saturday 6th September in the Asda supermarket at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol.
