LifeCycle raises $2.5m for Bustamante hospital

Leighton Levy, Gleaner Writer

A cheque for $2.5 million will be handed over to the Bustamante Hospital for Children today, courtesy of Alan Barnes, managing director of Red Stripe Jamaica, through his LifeCycle Charity race that was completed on Sunday.

The money will cover the cost of critical heart surgery for five of eight needy children.

Barnes and fellow cyclists had set out to raise $4 million in the charity race but fell short.

And while the race might be over, the effort to raise the additional funds is not.

"We've saved five children's lives so far; we've another three to go, so I'm carrying on. I am still hassling people for the extra $1.5 million," Barnes said, explaining that fund-raising efforts here and the United Kingdom are still continuing.

"We're actually going to the hospital tomorrow (this) morning to meet with the children who have had the operation but also with the five who we've successfully paid for to have the operation."

Miss Jamaica Universe 2010, Yendi Phillipps, will be on hand to assist with the proceedings and meet the children.

400-mile race

Less than a year after he and a team of riders raised enough money to afford six needy children surgeries that would prolong their innocent lives, Barnes embarked on yet another LifeCycle Charity Race, a 400-mile trek around Jamaica that began on Saturday, May 7 and ended 39 and a half hours later at the Bustamante Hospital for Children.

"We made it … . It was basically a life in 35 hours - fatigue, pain, delight, frustration, boredom, energy, lack of energy, etc. The toughest mental challenge I've ever done … ," Barnes fired off in an email to supporters and contributors shortly after he had completed his trek on Sunday.

Last year, the LifeCycle Charity Race, done under the auspices of the Chain of Hope Charity, set out to raise $3 million. This year, they upped the ante to $4 million, all of which goes towards paying for the surgeries.

Chain of Hope provides children suffering from life-threatening heart diseases with treatment to which they do not have access. They also aim to develop paediatric cardiac facilities in developing countries.

Chain of Hope provides cardiac care in two ways: by sending out medical teams to treat children in-country and by setting up training programmes for local surgeons and medical staff in those countries and by getting children to the United Kingdom for open- and closed-heart operations as an interim measure.

The money was raised through contributions from several corporate sponsors, the sale of specially made LifeCycle T-shirts, in quality Egyptian cotton, with a unique limited print Haddad design.

The shirts, which were designed by Tyrone House of Italy, and would normally retail for about J$12,000, were for a limited time, going for J$1,500 each. There were also special buckets placed at various bars across the island to collect donations from members of the public. Prior to the start of the race, about half the required money was raised.