By day Kathryn Hearn, 36, is glued to her computer. By night, she is glued to the television. In between she eats. Or she is ill in bed.

China Diary 5: 24/4/03
So why has the unfit, mother-of-two (yes there is a comma) signed up to a challenging trek for the Meningitis Research Foundation along the Great Wall of China?

Firstly may I apologise for the lack of updates of this diary - due to SARS.

No, not the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome which has closed parts of the world to foreign travel but to a lesser known strain of infection: St Albans Really Sick syndrome.

What started as a tickly cough turned very nasty, leaving me bed-bound for almost three weeks apart from repeated trips to the doctors "Yes you are very ill", the hospital "Yes you are very ill" and the chemists "That's a lot of antibiotics".

Being bed-bound came at the end of a run of bad luck in the Hearn household which would make a domestic sitcom seem unreal - children's hands in electric car windows, an epidemic of slapped-cheek disease (yes it does exist), teeth being pulled out - in fact even one of the cats was sick out of sympathy with the rest of the family.

Everything seemed to be conspiring against me getting to China - at least in one (healthy) piece!

The training went out the window and I am to date the only person who can have gastric flu for a week, not eat and have violent bouts of vomiting, yet put on a stone!

Corona virus: The likely cause of SARS

The trek looked remote indeed and at one point I was told it would take about seven weeks before I would be up and fully functioning again.

I was obviously distraught at not being able to work, desperately missing my desk and my colleagues - and frantic with worry that I may have to the high point of my life - no not the trek - but seeing sex god Tom Jones at Wembley on 8 May!!

Today however I've had the news from Charity Challenge that the latest directive from the World Health Organisation is for travellers not to go to Beijing as the number of SARS cases there spiral.

I received an email this morning offering me the choices of postponing the trip to later in the year or taking one of two trips due to depart at the same time as mine (May 17).

One is to trek the Inca Trail in Peru or trek the Escambray Mountains in Cuba. Both sound very physical!

Alternatively I can choose another one of the challenges that the charily offers. My attention was caught by a trip horse riding in Mongolia - but the horses are pony sized and I am dangerously near the maximum weight and I wouldn't want to risk the wrath of animal lovers by overloading a small foreign beast.

In the meantime, the fund-raising has gone very smoothly - and I have proudly sent a cheque for £2,000 to the Meningitis Research Foundation.

My coffers were swelled by a morning spent shaking a bucket outside St Albans railway station. The commuters were very generous and my cries of "Meningitis Research" (Sometimes interspersed with "Men in tights in the church") raised over £180.

This also boosted my spirits enormously. I was somewhat hesitant at collecting in such a public place, but my first donor - at just after 6.30am - walked straight up and put a £1 in my bucket with a massive smile. Another suited traveller with a baseball cap put a very generous £20 note in my bucket, leaving me speechless. Others gave their loose change but there were a couple of notes and lots of lovely £1 coins.

Work colleagues have also kindly rooted out their various bric-a-brac for a charity stall I'm having at St Albans market on Sunday 11 May.

An evening bash at the new Old Albanians Rugby Club on Friday July 18 is afoot with live band and comedian - more details to follow.

The very kind Victoria Beckham has donated a lovely signed photo and I have other plans in the pipeline for worthwhile raffle prizes.

So all I have to do now is decide before Monday what to do with the trek - postpone until the winter, change to another destination or put the lives of small Mongolian ponies in danger.

Otherwise, if you would like to sponsor me in the traditional way, please send cheques payable to Kathryn Hearn, to myself at BBC Beds, Herts and Bucks, 1 Hastings Street, Luton LU1 5XL. Please include your full name and address.

All people who donate will be listed here so please advise me if you wish to remain anonymous.

Alternatively if you would like to donate an item for auction – any thing would be gratefully received - please call me at work on 01582 637460 or email me on kathryn.hearn@bbc.co.uk

Find out more here about how much I've raised so far.

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