On Sunday 22 July I swam 6.5km from Asia to Europe across the Bosphorus Strait in memory of my 19 year old Goddaughter, Freya Cox, who died suddenly and tragically in December.  I was fundraising for two charities, one of them being CRY, and have so far raised more than £22,000.

In 1996 I was Best Man for two of the closest friends anyone could ever have – Mike and Alison Cox. They had three amazing children and I was privileged to be asked to be a Godfather for their eldest, Freya. Freya was an amazing girl who achieved far more in 19 years than many of us achieve in a lifetime.  Her sudden death has affected so many people as they are the closest and most popular family any of us know.  Freya is missed and talked about every day by and we will never forget the impact she had on us.  Mike and Alison have received a lot of support from CRY and we have all been really impressed by the charity.

It was a privilege for me to do this challenge in memory of Freya and in support of CRY.  I absolutely hate swimming and it was not an easy challenge – six months of training in pools and lakes and then a 6.5km swim across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul.   But thinking about Freya and her family throughout made it much easier and kept reminding me how much I love them and that there is nothing at all that I wouldn’t do for them.

I look forward to doing more things for Freya and for CRY in the future.

Richard Hawkes