A WHITCHURCH woman has completed a gruelling fundraiser in the Sahara Desert for her miracle baby.
Mikaela Cox overcame intense temperatures and walked 62 miles across the desert in Morocco over six days.
And in doing so she raised £3,615 for the Sick Children's Trust.
The charity came to the aid of Mikaela and her husband, David, after their son, Reggie, was born at 16 weeks weighing just 1lb 7oz (650g).
The trust provided accomodation for the pair while Reggie spent time in intensive care in a London hospital.
For Mikaela, the challenge was a way of thanking the trust for offering support when they needed it most and she was pleased with the experience and with the amount of money she raised.
She said: "To everyone who has donated thank you. We have 100 per cent made a difference.
"It has been far from easy, but I'll feel grateful forever."
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She added: "It was a great experience.
"[The amount raised] was a lot more than I thought I was going to raise. And obviously that is better for the charity."
Mikaela was in a group of between 20 and 30 people who had come from different parts of the UK to trek across the Sahara for various charities.
She said she had been worried about the climate she was up against.
She said: "It was all in Morocco. We covered some very massive mountainous dunes and over rocky plains.
"I was quite worried about the heat and the physical strain of the trek. Some days days were really hard and on others you could not do anymore.
"The team around me pulled everybody through.
"We had water supplied to us and drunk about six litres a day."
Mikaela also spoke about the difficulty of being away from her family and not being able to contact them while trekking across the desert.
She said: "I was nervous about missing the children at the start because there was no contact from home while we were there.
"It was difficult, but I said to the children I was not going to be there.
"I was lovely when we got back and be able to see them on Facetime and speak with them."
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