Man to paddle the Channel in memory of daughter

A man from West Sussex is training to cross the English Channel, from Dungeness to Boulogne-sur-Mer, via paddle board.

Jamie BartlettBundy, is taking on the challenge in memory of Pearl, who died in 2017 with a form of bone cancer called Ewing sarcoma.

He hopes this challenge can help raise £10,000 for The Children & Young People's Cancer Association, which funds research.

He said: "The challenge itself is physical and mental, it's about being prepared to take on whatever hits us. After seeing what my daughter and all those other children go through, and still smile, I feel like I'm paling in significance when compared to them."

Jamie will be joined on his 26.5-mile journey by his brother, John Bartlett.

He says the sport helped both of them feel more connected after suffering the loss of Pearl.

"It gave us a chance to communicate."

Jamie's wife, Rachel, bought him a paddle board a year after Pearl's death.

"She could see I wasn't coping," Jamie said.

"It just clicked with me. The more we did it, the more I realised that being out on the water and long-distance paddle-boarding gave me a chance to cope with my loss."

Jamie and John will take on their challenge at the start of August.

Jamie says that the knowledge that Pearl would be proud of him keeps him going.