I surfed the Channel in memory of my son

By rights chartered accountant Andrew John should have been at his desk in the City, crunching numbers and working on deals. Instead he was bouncing his way across the English Channel at up to 30 knots as he attempted to become the first accountant - and, indeed, first person - to kite-surf from England to France and back again.

He and his team made it back in one piece - just. With the weather closing in as they returned, the four were so battered by the wind and waves that for a while they thought they might not complete the crossing.

But the 60-mile round trip was about far more than personal challenges and the thrill of extreme sports.

In July this year Mr John's son Oliver died aged six weeks of a brain tumour at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and he dreamed up the stunt as a way of raising money for the hospital in memory of Oliver.

He and his wife Helen Whiteley-John, a vice-president of Deutsche Bank, set out to raise ?10,000 for Great Ormond Street: they ended up getting more than ?50,000.

Mr John, 32, works for KPMG and describes himself as "a boring accountant who has gone and done something that's quite different".

Mr John, who lives in Woodford Green, said: "To put my body through its paces and raise money for something so close to my heart will be a great way to remember Oliver.

"He was our first child, and when he was born - on 23 May - he was absolutely perfect, angelic. We were so happy. Then one Friday night he started crying. We took him to hospital. Three days later he died of a brain tumour. Fifty per cent of his brain was a tumour. There was no hope for him.

"Oli's final three days were spent at Great Ormond Street Hospital before passing away peacefully in our arms. These days were some of the happiest and saddest of our lives.

"The fantastic work that is done at Great Ormond Street - the nurses and doctors are really angels - could not be achieved without public fund-raising support and I hope that I can do my bit in return for their support and hard work and for the other sick children there."

He originally planned to set off with his companions - kite-surf instructor Chris Bull, insurance adjuster Rob Campbell and former hang-gliding champion Michel Carnet - last Saturday.

"We had to abandon the first attempt after one of the support boats was picked up by a wave and went turtle," he said.

The trip, from Dungeness to Cap Gris-Nez and back to Folkestone, across one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, involved immense challenges. "It had to be perfect wind conditions, otherwise we would have to change kites, and you cannot do that in the middle of a shipping lane. There are very strong currents, too.

"But we did it in three and threequarter hours - quicker than the ferry.

"When we set out, the wind was around 15 knots. On the way it picked up to 25-30 knots. On the way back we were hanging on for dear life.

"At times the support boats were struggling to keep up with us. With 25 miles to go we thought we were not going to make it because the winds were so strong. We were already shattered by the time we got to France.

"On the way back we could see the white cliffs of Dover - but those cliffs took ages to arrive.

"When we got back, our legs were like jelly and we thought our arms were going to fall off. It was a huge amount of effort just to keep on course. My knees are still aching from all the pounding."

Anyone wishing to make a donation can do so via the Great Ormond Street Hospital website: www.gosh.org