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Rugby legend Lewis Moody heads up the headwest Costa Rica coast-to-coast challenge

Lewis and his team headwest to raise £75,000 to help fund HeadSmart

Lewis and his team headwest to raise £75,000 to help fund HeadSmart

Former England Rugby Captain and founder of The Lewis Moody Foundation, Lewis Moody is taking on his next epic challenge in a series with corporate partner Y.CO – crossing Costa Rica from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean in order to raise £75,000 to help fund the HeadSmart campaign.

He’ll be joined by 19 intrepid adventurers supporting this vital fundraising challenge. The expedition begins 30 November, returning home on 10 December.

The team will have to battle their way through dense rainforest and jungle, cycle up steep mountainous terrain, raft rapids and kayak the Caribbean Sea facing extreme humidity and altitude sickness to cover 300km in just eight days.

Together with expedition leader Wayne Hoyle, fellow ex-marine guide Alan Chambers says: “This is no walk in the park. The jungle section will test the best of us no question – it’s unlike any environment they’ve ever experienced.

“That, coupled with the relentless humidity, will be the biggest hurdles. They’ll have to look out for each other and make sure everyone makes it safely.”

The challenge evolves

headwest is a collaboration between former England Rugby Captain Lewis Moody MBE, polar explorer and adventurer Alan Chambers MBE and Y.CO, the challenger brand of the superyacht industry, who first partnered together for the headnorth extreme challenge to the North Pole in April 2015, through which they raised over £200,000 for charity.

Following that, Lewis and a team took headeast last year raising over £75,000 for The Foundation and are now gearing up for headwest.

Lewis says: headwest will see myself and an inspiring team of men and women attempt to cover 300km over eight days as we trek through jungle, cycle across mountains and raft along the rapids to cross Costa-Rica from the east to west coast.

“I’ve been told by our tour leaders on the ground that this is by far the toughest way to cross Costa-Rica. But we know this is nothing compared to the challenges families have to deal with on a daily basis when they are faced with the devastating diagnosis of a brain tumour.

“Ever since I heard the horrifying fact that brain tumours are THE biggest cancer killer of children and adults, I have strived to push myself to my physical limits to raise funds to support the HeadSmart campaign.

“Sadly I have met too many people whose lives have been cut short by this devastating disease and it’s remembering these people and the lives of others that could be saved in the future that drives me forward.”

The impact of HeadSmart

Earlier diagnosis saves lives as mum Claire Lloyd says:

“Tuesday noon I saw the HeadSmart website and by lunchtime my son’s tumour had been found and he’d had surgery to relieve the hydrocephalus. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts – that information saved his life.”

The Lewis Moody Foundation collaborates with us to fund the award winning HeadSmart campaign to help make thousands of parents, doctors, opticians and healthcare professional across the UK brain tumour aware.

Team leaders of the headwest challenge are:

  • Alan Chambers MBE FRGS. Ambassador for The Lewis Moody Foundation and experienced explorer Alan Chambers has been to the North Pole 12 times. He spent 16 years as a Royal Marine Commando, trained as a Parachutist, Diver and Paramedic and operated in Jungle, Desert, Arctic and Urban environments
  • Wayne Hoyle. Wayne has served over 30 years as a Royal Marine and was part of the 2015 headnorth and 2016 headeast expeditions
  • Lewis Moody MBE. Former England rugby captain and 2003 Rugby World Cup winner, Lewis has won 71 caps during an international career spanning over a decade. Since retiring through injury in 2012, Lewis has launched his own charitable foundation, which supports families affected by the devastating diagnosis of a brain tumour, as well as funding research via The Brain Tumour Charity. headwest is the third in a series of unique endurance challenges Lewis has personally taken on for The Foundation