06 August 2018
Bristol Royal Hospital for Children Professor to embark on solo channel swim
A cardiac and intensive care consultant at Bristol children's
hospital will take on an epic challenge in the next 2 weeks to
raise money for a pioneering new cardiac service for the
hospital.
Armed with a pair of goggles and swimming trunks,
Professor Andrew Wolf will brave 21 miles of cold water,
changing tides and swarms of jellyfish when he embarks on a solo
swim across the English Channel. Sixty-three-year-old Andy is
aiming to raise £20,000 towards The Grand Appeal's new 3D Cardiac
Bio-Printing Service at Bristol children's hospital.
For over 20 years, Andy has worked at the hospital alongside his
colleagues in the cardiac team, caring for over 400 children and
babies each year with complex cardiac conditions, who come from
across the South West, South Wales and beyond for lifesaving
treatment.
The new 3D Cardiac Bio-Printing Service, established by Bristol
Children's Hospital Charity The Grand Appeal, will enable the
cardiac team to create exact replicas of individual patients'
hearts, transforming the way the team plan and practice this
complex surgery. Crucially, it will help young patients and their
families to understand even the most complex cardiac conditions and
operations.
Andy commented:"Taking on a channel swim is no small feat, and I
have spent the last 18 months dedicating every spare moment,
preparing for the challenge ahead. In that time, I've had some
amazing support from my family, friends, colleagues and The Grand
Appeal's supporters, and I'm thrilled to have already reached the
halfway mark of my fundraising target. 
"It's going to be very tough, physically and mentally, but I
have the most powerful motivator on my side - helping to fund a new
cutting-edge service which will have a huge impact for young
cardiac patients across the region."
In the future, the service will also enable true "bio-printing."
In partnership with The Grand Appeal, teams from the hospital will
pioneer a bio-printing service, where the patient's own stem cells
are used to make individualised tissues that grow with a child
after a cardiac repair, thereby dramatically reducing the amount of
operations a young cardiac patient has to endure as they grow. This
unique service will be the one of the first of its kind in the U.K.
and in the future, will be extended out to help in other surgical
specialities across Bristol children's hospital.
Nicola Masters, Director of The Grand Appeal added:"Andy's
dedication, compassion and drive to help us embed this new service
in Bristol children's hospital is nothing short of astounding. He's
spent over 20 years caring for critically ill babies and children,
and he's gone well above his call of duty to help us take this
service to new, unprecedented places.
"We'll be cheering Andy on - from dry land - and can't
thank him enough for his herculean efforts in helping us ensure
Bristol children's hospital stays at the forefront of paediatric
care both in the UK and internationally."
This will be Andy's first solo channel swim, having previously
completed a relay with six colleagues from Bristol children's
hospital in 2017, to raise money for a specialist bereavement space
in the hospital's Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.
To support Andy in his upcoming challenge and help him reach his
ambitious target, visit his JustGiving
page or text "SOLO57" to 70070 with the amount you'd like to
donate.
You can also follow him on Facebook and
Twitter, where he
will be livestreaming and providing real-time updates as he swims
through the night to transform the lives of children and babies
with complex cardiac conditions.
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