By Cathy Anstey

JESS HILL always wanted to visit the frozen wilderness of the Arctic circle. And it was due to the tragic death of her beautiful daughter Alice Poppy last September that she finally realised her ambition.

The 35 year-old horse vet, who grew up in Inkberrow and now lives in Cheltenham, completed a 160-mile journey across the snow-covered landscapes of Norway and Sweden to raise money for Acorns Children’s Hospice in Worcester.

For a week in April Jess drove a team of huskies pulling a sledge in freezing temperatures, slept on reindeer skins in tents, cooked on campfires and wasn’t able to wash properly or change her clothes.

It was a massive personal challenge - exhausting but hugely rewarding - and has raised £7,879 for Acorns which cared for little Alice Poppy in her final weeks and supported her family through their darkest hours.

Many of the donations came from Worcester News readers who were deeply moved by Jess and Alice Poppy’s story when it appeared on January 28.

Alice was born in March 2013 and developed normally – rolling over, eating different foods and even feeding herself with a spoon. But after about eight months she had stopped rolling over, holding toys, being able to shake her rattles and knock over towers of bricks. She couldn’t hold up her head and her hands and feet started to tremble.

The paediatric consultant in Cheltenham told Jess there was something seriously wrong and life-limiting. After scans at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and an extreme reaction to a general anaesthetic when she nearly died, Alice was eventually diagnosed with a mitochondrial disease, which was in her DNA. She only had months to live.

When Jess and Alice returned home from hospital one of the first calls she received was from a support worker at Acorns Children’s Hospice in Worcester.

Jess said: “Acorns was by far the biggest influence I had in the months after she was diagnosed. They really looked after us as a family because Alice was a grandchild as well and they looked after my parents too. Acorns was our lifeline.

“They gave us our best times with Alice. A lot of my best memories of Alice are at Acorns. The doctors, nurses and carers at Acorns are too incredible for words.”

Alice died at home in her mum’s arms in September 2014 aged just 18-months-old. “I honestly don’t know how we would have got through our journey without Acorns,” said Jess.

And as part of fulfilling Jess’s promise to Alice that she would live her life the way she would have wanted Alice to live hers, Jess undertook her Arctic adventure from April 12 to 19.

“It was incredible. It was really hard work and incredibly cold. It was a real challenge and I felt the sponsorship money was well earned. The other people on the trek were brilliant and doing it for other charities.

“We started the day of trekking at 8am and literally stopped for five minutes to have a sandwich before going on until 4pm.”

She said the temperatures went down to about -10C but the cutting wind made it feel a lot colder. Each person had at least five huskies and the trekkers stood on a platform at the back of the sledge. Jess fell off a couple of times but gladly into deep soft snow with no ill effects.

“We stood on little platforms on the back of the sledge and were just holding on. We just had a brake we could use to slow down. Dogs were incredible. They know their stuff but they got tired by the end of the week.

“When we went up the hills or mountains we had to get off the sledge and run with the dogs. That was tiring and hard work.

“The hardest thing I found was, after a day of trekking, setting up camp in the wind. We had to see to the dogs – feeding them and digging a hole in the snow where they could shelter, put up our tent, get water from a bore hole and cook. Then there was only time to go to bed. I didn’t mix too much with the others because it was too cold to be outside.”

She said she didn’t sleep very much because of the cold and it was also quite uncomfortable. “When we were camping we were wearing the same clothes all week. We did not get undressed. We were sleeping in coats and hats and gloves. One chap’s hair had frozen when he got up in the morning.”

One of Jess’s colleagues from her vet’s practice, equine assistant Ali Lloyd, went on the trek with Jess and raised £2,000 for Acorns, while another person doing the challenge, who lives in Zurich, had seen Jess and Alice’s story on the Just Giving website and also raised money for Acorns.

Jess added: “I loved every minute of it. It was physically tiring and particularly running up hill next to the dogs. We had all been through tough times in our lives recently but not a physical tough time.

“It was beautiful. The peace and quiet and the scenery were stunning. I enjoyed just being away from everyday life. All we had was the noise of the dogs.

“Everyone was doing it for a cause that meant something to them and would not have been there if it wasn’t for the special people in our lives. We all thought about those people a lot.”

She continued: “I really missed being able to turn on the kettle and make a cup of tea. It would take 40 minutes to make a cup of tea. I did not miss my phone or email. I missed hot drinks and having a shower and home comforts like a bed and pillows.

“The shower I had at the end when we got to the hotel was the best shower I have ever had. It was incredible.”

Jess said she is planning to do a challenge of some sort every year and wants to raise more funds for Acorns. “Life is very precious and you have to take every opportunity and have a go at different things.

“I still go to Acorns. They have a parent’s bereavement group and it just shows the level of support they are giving. Alice died months ago and the support is so helpful - it carries on.”

Acorns Children’s Hospice is a charity and depends on donations. It cost’s £7,500 a day to run. Jess had a target of raising £4,000 but wanted to double that figure because she says the hospice needs all the financial support it can get.

Anyone who wants to donate money and help her reach that £8,000 target or wants to read more of Alice’s story can still log onto http://www.justgiving.com/JessandAlicePoppy

Donations can also be made directly to Acorns at https://www.acorns.org.uk/component/com_jdonation/Itemid,430/campaign_id,0/view,donation/, by sending a cheque payable to Acorns Children’s Hospice, at Acorns Children’s Hospice, 350 Bath Road, Worcester WR5 3EZ, or over the phone by calling 01564 825 000.