A Harrogate mum is doing a tough 12km obstacle course to fundraise for Muscular Dystrophy UK, (MDUK) the charity she joined because her son has a muscle-wasting disease.
Total Warrior is the first big physical challenge for Susanne Driffield who will take part in the gruelling course, which includes 25 different obstacles, next weekend.
It is to raise money for MDUK, the charity which supports her 11-year-old son Joe, who has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).
Duchenne muscular dystrophy is an incurable, life-limiting condition that will result in progressive muscle degeneration and weakness.
Susanne left her job as an estate agent two years ago to start working with the charity to help them fundraise. She is now the MDUK Regional Development Manager, North of England and East Midlands.
Susanne said:
We were first involved in the charity in 2014 when Joe was initially diagnosed, aged four. Without them we would have been lost. We hadn’t heard of the condition and didn’t know where to turn.
It’s a relatively unknown condition and the support the charity gets tends to be by people whose lives have been affected, as other people may not have heard of it.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy threatens to rob Joe of his independence eventually and we are fighting to do everything we can to avoid that.
She signed up for the Total Warrior after having seen it as a spectator in 2019. It looked great fun then but she is now extremely nervous about it.
Susanne said:
I am particularly dreading the obstacles called ‘Human BBQ’ and ‘The Shocker. ‘I was going to be fit and ready for it but I’ve maybe left the training a little bit late. I am doing what I can on my own in the garage on a treadmill, but really I am relying on the rest of the team to get me over the finish line.
It’s way out of my comfort zone but that’s part of the motivation behind doing it.
She is supported by ‘Team Driff,’ a group of friends and family who are coming from London, Manchester, Nottingham, Leeds, Grimsby, Harrogate, Thirsk and York to join her.
When the Driffield family originally signed up to take on the challenge in 2019, Joe was set to take on Junior Warrior. However this is no longer possible due to the decline in his condition.
Susanne’s husband Darren said “I have done Total Warrior before and it is physically very hard but Joe goes through that every day. I’m really proud of Susanne taking part as this will be the ultimate challenge for her”
Find out more information on Susanne’s challenge and contribute to her fundraising campaign here.
