Fiona to take on Everest
Thursday, 14 September, 2023
Based in Lancashire, at HQ - Hutton as a staff member of Employee Relations Team, Fiona Baker-Holden will set off on the 15 November 2023 on a self-funded 15-day trek to Everest Base Camp in Nepal, to raise funds for the Sid Watkins Innovation Fund at the Walton Centre hospital in Aintree.
In her spare time, Fiona raced 600cc sidecars at world championship level as a passenger with her father, until her life-changing, 130mph accident whilst competing at the Isle Of Man TT races in 2018.
The nature of her injuries (a broken neck, incomplete severed spinal cord, severed nerves into her arm, brain injuries and having to learn to walk again) meant Fiona was a patient at the Walton Centre for a month, before returning home to continue to recover for a further 16 months and then following a carefully planned 10-month phased return to work at Lancashire HQ.
Whilst Fiona was at the Walton Centre, she vowed to show her appreciation of the care and treatment she had received and raise money to say thank you, when she was well enough to do so.
Five and a half years on and Fiona is now in that position and will be trekking to Everest in November 2023 with her husband, amongst other fund-raising activities, for the Sid Watkins Innovation Fund at the Walton Centre; which incidentally, includes running 1000 miles in under 12 months and Fiona will tell you that she doesn't even enjoy running!!
Indeed, Fiona has already completed many of these miles by running around the race tracks she used to compete at, since she is no longer able to race around them, including Brands Hatch, Le Mans – France and Redbull Ring – Austria to name but a few.
Previous fund-raising activities by others have recently helped to purchase ground-breaking equipment, such as a neuro virtual reality simulator that surgeons use in advance of operating on people with tumours, head injuries, bleeds on the brain, strokes and aneurysms for example.
Fiona is aiming to raise £10,000 towards the purchase of advanced technological equipment which would help to further develop the care and treatment for patients at the Walton Centre.
She has a fund-raising web page on the Walton Centre website, which details her story and pledge in more detail. www.thewaltoncentrecharity.org/fundraisers search Fiona Baker-Holden. You can also scan the QR code to go directly to Fiona’s page, as any donations would be greatly appreciated.
During this year's Isle of Man TT races, Fiona had a TV interview with Granada Reports about the trek, whilst supporting her husband, who continues to compete at the TT himself. You can view the interview about her current challenge here.
