BEAT THE BEAST CHALLENGE
I, Archie Douglas, have been left brain damaged by a brain tumour, its treatment, and each and everyone of the more severe epileptic seizures. Despite kicking the tumour into touch, the expectation very much remains that my tumour will return, that I will die because of this tumour rather than in spite of it. Having been written off as permanently unemployable, by both the NHS and the MoD, I am using diet, exercise, golf and music, as vehicles on which to keep my brain tumour at bay, while retraining and strengthening my brain to become useful again. As I do so, I seek to inspire you to either, individually challenge me , through your sposnsorship, to keep fighting to save lives, or to organise simple and fun, life-saving events raising £80 to save a life through the Disasters Emergency Committee. By saving lives you help me to become useful once more.
In A Nutshell
Although I have managed to kick my brain tumour into touch, I have been diagnosed with SMART syndrome, epilepsy and a number of neurological dysfunctions. My neurologist has written me off as permanently unemployable and my oncologist is unable to confirm that I am healed. She is convinced that my brain tumour will return and the expectation very much remains that I will die because of this tumour rather than in spite of it.
So…
While I can at first glance, and even on a particularly good day, appear completely normal, underneath what I hope comes across as a calm, friendly and together exterior, I am actually struggling and can be close to some form of neurological wobble or seizure, wondering whether to find a way to end the conversation, or how to get to a safe place, or whether to ask for help or to call for my wife Allie, who always knows what to do. In fact I am sometimes lost and can be quite frightened now without her because I never know what is going to happen next or whether I am making any sense at all, whether or not I am right or wrong, whether or not it is safe to cross. Without my assistance dog Cocoa, I would have little independence. Yet, I have life and with all things taken into consideration, surrounded by a growing number of people in the town who know me and watch out for me, a wonderful life in this beautiful place, North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland, in which I live.
So…
I want the blessing of life to be a blessing that I can pass onto hundreds of thousands of people who need help at the most desperate time of their lives, when houses crumble, when towns and villages are seemingly wiped from the face of the earth, when society fails, at times of disaster. But to achieve my target of raising £9,000,000 to save 112,500 lives, every single month, I need your help. Through my efforts I hope to inspire you to either, become a life-saver through individual sponsorship. or organise a simple and fun life-saving event designed to raise just £80 to provide the emergency shelter, bedding and clothing, rations, clean water, hygiene and medical packs needed to save a life. I personaly guarantee that every single penny raised will go to save lives through the good works of the Disasters Emergency Committee.
My eternal hope and prayer is that every life saved will be like a drop of light that sends a ripple of peace, joy, love of thy neighbour and a desire to tun the clock back on climate change across the world. That by saving hundreds of thousands of lives , that drop of light becomes like an unstoppable Tsunami of light forcing peace, joy, love of thy neighbour and a desire to turn the clock back on climate change into the hardest to reach parts of the world.
Until we achieve peace and have turned the clock back on climate change I need to keep saving lives, and will continue to strive to do so for as long as I can keep my brain tumour at bay by following my balanced daily lifestyle, swinging a golf club, playing the organ and attending your life-saving events.
These boxes below, that I have named my challenge in numbers boxes, give you a true reflection of my efforts, since the launch on the 01st January 2024, needed to keep my brain tumour at bay, to get neurologically and cognitively strong again, and to raise the £80 needed to provide all the materials needed to save a life in a disaster, as many times over as I can. I hope that my efforts will inspire and encourage you to run a, simple and fun, life-saving event designed to raise the £80 needed to save a life as often as you can, ideally, each and every month. When kept simple and fun, these events will not only help to save a life but should also be to the mutual benefit of the organiser and the attendees, and I will come to help at, and support your event, if I possibly can. Thank you, I very much look forward to hearing from you, yours aye, Archie. archie@beatthebeastchallenge.co.uk
Follow my progress
As I attempt to become useful again
I am inviting you to join me on my personal challenge to become useful again through the saving of lives. Battling every day with SMART syndrome, Epilepsy and my neurological dysfunctions, I strive to learn to play Golf and the Pipe Organ as well as I possibly can, and follow my balanced daily lifestyle of diet and exercise religiously, in the hope of keeping my brain tumour at bay, of becoming neurologically and cognitively strong enough to become employable again and in the hope of inspiring and encouraging you to organise and run a, simple and fun, life-saving event designed to raise £80 to provide all the materialsneeded, at times of disaster, to save a life, as often as you can, ideally once a month to save a life a month. I personally guarantee that every single penny raised through my challenge will go to save lives through the Disasters Emergency Committee. I intend to keep trying to save lives for as long as I cn keep my brain tumour at bay, keep swingin a golf club, keep making music and keep walking. I hope that you will not only start saving lives through life-saving events, as often as you can, but that you will keep saving lives for as long as I can keep going. In so doing, you are not only saving lives, but are also helping me to become useful once more. In order to keep my relationship with you live, I will keep the challenge in numbers boxes regularly updated, and write occasional blogs to keep you updated on all news of my progress. You can find these blogs on this website or by liking my beatthebeastchallenge Facebook page or by following the challenge on Twitter and Instagram. All details on how to challenge me to keep fighting through your sponsorship can be found here. I look forward to helping at and supporting your life-saving events, and receiving your life-saving monies. I can be reached via email on archie@beatthebeastchallenge.co.uk In the meantime……
Keep Safe,
Keep being brilliant
and
Keeeeeeeeeeeeeep smiling
Yours aye with love and gratitude
Archie and Cocoa