Swimmers' Channel relay supports children's unit

The Oxford Orcas team consists of (L to R) Consultant Dr Michael Carter, supporter George Middleton, OUH chief medical officer Andrew Brent, supporter Hazel Shaw, head of OUH communications Sarah Vaccari, and lead education nurse Rosie Priddy

A team of six swimmers, including doctors and charity staff, are gearing up for an English Channel swim relay to raise money for a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU).

The Oxford Orcas hope to raise £30,000 for specialist equipment for the John Radcliffe Hospital unit, which cares for 1,000 critically ill children each year.

The swimmers have been training through the winter in local lakes and plan to complete the challenge next week.

Team member Sarah Vaccari, of Oxford Hospitals Charity, is supporting the cause after the ward helped her daughter who was born with a congenital heart condition.

Dr Carter said the raised funds would allow the ward to expend its services

The team described the upcoming 21-mile (34 km) Channel swim as "notoriously tough, with strong tides".

They will be swimming in the dark, not using wetsuits and "dodging jellyfish".

Consultant Dr Michael Carter has done the challenge before and described it as "one of the most amazing experiences of my life".

He said, the first time, he had swum close to killer whales, which inspired their team logo design.

Sarah Vaccari supports the cause after the ward helped her daughter

Mrs Vaccari, who is taking part in the challenge for the first time, said she would "always remember" the care she had received.

"My daughter is now a strapping 18-year-old, but she was diagnosed as a baby with congenital heart condition and needed open heart surgery," she said.

"When you have a major operation like that... your child will spend time in paediatric intensive care, so I remember that, it's never left me."

She said, through her job, she had met many families who had been through the unit.

"You get to know them well when you work in a charity like ours, so that's my motivation and I know it's the motivation for the rest of the team as well."

Dr Carter said the raised funds would buy better equipment and compassionate leadership training for nurses on the unit who "are really exposed to the trauma of providing difficult care to really in difficult circumstances".

The group has so far raised more than two-thirds of its target.