They did it! An awe-inspiring team of swimmers has successfully swam the English Channel to raise funds for Say Aphasia. 

Speech and Language Therapist and great friend of Say Aphasia, Kirsty Maguire, took on the iconic swim in aid of our charity.

Along with a team of 5 she completed the ‘Everest of Swimming,’: the 21 mile stretch of water that separates England and France. 

The attempt was scheduled to begin on Saturday 17th June, but storms across the channel postponed it until Thursday 22nd June - an agonising wait for all concerned.

When the swimmers finally took to the water, they encountered thousands of jellyfish. But they were also, quite wonderfully, accompanied by a pod of dolphins.

They finished the epic swim in 13 hours 14 minutes. 

Of the challenge, Kirsty said ‘There are more than 350,000 in the UK living with aphasia and yet 84.5% of the population don’t know what it is.

More people have aphasia than Parkinson’s or MS. It’s about time that awareness and support for this condition changes.

So, if I can do anything to contribute to that, then this journey has been worth it.’

And worth it is an understatement.

So far, Kirsty and the team have raised over £9,000 for Say Aphasia. The donations continue to roll in, with many people having been inspired by the team’s commitment and the chance to be part of real change for people with aphasia.

If you’d like to add your donation, we'd be so grateful.

DONATE TO KIRSTY'S FUNDRAISER

DONATE TO GEORGE'S FUNDRAISER

You can see more footage of the event below. 

Thank you so much Kirsty and team, now put your feet up!

WATCH THE VIDEO