Marathon des Sables – 2010

One major focus through 2010 and 2011 was the EUR 50,000 appeal to build mother and child units to assist the recovery of critically ill children at the 2nd Department of Paediatrics of Semmelweis University (SOTE II). The vast bulk of the money was raised by the Marathon Effort For SOTE II, in which Harry Harron and Simon Saunders tackled the toughest foot race on earth: the Marathon des Sables.

The challenge covered 250 km (155 miles), which equates to about five and-a-half marathons, and was run across the Sahara Desert over six days.

In addition to the more than HUF 1,000,000 donated by individuals through PayPal, our principal sponsors of Vodafone and Tesco donated HUF 5,000,000 and HUF 1,400,000 respectively to boost the fundraising towards the full HUF 15 million.

Today the units are open, and making a huge difference to the level of care extremely sick children receive at SOTE II by enabling a parent to remain in hospital with them. Thank you for your efforts in making this particular dream come true.

Watch the video below of Harry and Simon’s efforts.