Baris with his daughter Aysu

Inspirational father to walk for Beckton hospice Richard House

by Kay Atwal, Chief Reporter Friday, April 13, 2012
12:00 PM

Imagine having spent your life caring for two disabled sisters. Then imagine how you would feel when your only daughter is also born with severe disabilities.

That is the life of inspirational father Baris Guven. Next month he will complete a charity walk in aid of the children’s hospice that has helped him and his family survive a life full of turmoil.

Baris, 39, originally from Cyprus, but now living in Baxer Road, Edmonton, takes his daughter Aysu, five, to Richard House Children’s Hospice, in Beckton, for care and respite breaks.

Aysu suffers from a range of still-undiagnosed conditions which means she cannot talk, see, walk or sit upright. Born at just 28-weeks, she has spent her entire life needing 24-hour care.

On May 13 he’ll be taking part in the Richard House 12 Bridge Walk in central London to celebrate the 12th anniversary of the Capital’s oldest children’s hospice.

Baris said: “Before Aysu came to the hospice, I wouldn’t let anyone but me care for her. Even now, I survive on just one hour’s sleep a day but when I’m at Richard House I know she can be looked after. The work they do is amazing.”

The Richard House 12 Bridge Walk is the third annual London bridges walk organised by the hospice. It starts at 10am on Sunday 13 May.

Walkers start at the World’s End district, in Chelsea, and cross Battersea Bridge before heading through London. They will finish at the Gouman Hotel, in St Katherine’s Dock, near the final crossing at Tower Bridge. A second, shorter five-mile walk will begin at the National Theatre on the Southbank and finish in the same location.