the Team
Jo
Huxster
Ants on Jo..
Jo refuses to blow her own trumpet so I’ll have to do it for her… she’s been
my closest friend since we stumbled across each other in the back row of the
maths class at our secondary school. After five years of misdemeanors, sporting
triumphs and exacerbating teachers she left to go to Sixth Form College. Then
suddenly things went wrong. Jo, straight A student, athlete par excellence and
life and soul of every party, developed depression. Before we knew it she had
left college and been admitted to mental hospital, where she spent much of the
next four years. The transformation was terrifying and over the next five years
there were many times when I questioned if she could ever recover. I’d never
heard of self-harm before, but Jo, like everything she does, did it to the best
of her ability. She’ll carry the scars forever.
Having seen what Jo went through I am constantly in awe of her strength of character, to recover as she has done is little short of a miracle. Now, aged 27, she lives in Brighton, has a psychology degree from Sussex University and in September will begin a second degree in medicine. Her recovery should be an inspiration to everyone who has ever suffered from mental illness and thought ‘Will I ever be normal again?’ By doing this madcap venture Jo hopes to show people that mental illness is by no means terminal, that there can be light at the end of the tunnel.
The idea for this trip came about during a holiday to Thailand four years ago, where a (crazy) tuk tuk driver allowed Jo to take control. It was love at first rev. Now four years later that dream is becoming a reality. Because of Jo’s history, it was easy to decide to do the journey in aid of Mind and she is understandably passionate about the cause.
Last but not least….Jo loves ferrets. In fact she has 12. You could say
her life revolves around these furry friends and her biggest worry about
the trip is leaving them behind. She has assured me there will be tears!
If anyone wants to volunteer to look after them then please get in touch.
And yes, I am being serious.
Antonia
Bolingbroke-Kent
Jo on Ants..
Ants is 27 years old and has been my best friend since we were 12 when
we met at school and bonded over a passion for sports and animals. I have
very fond memories of going to lacrosse matches on Saturdays straight after
going to Pizza Express, where Ants would inhale a margarita in well under
4 minutes. I also remember staying at her house in Norfolk and being woken
at dawn by the peacocks and a pug on my bed, with Ants trying to persuade
me to a) go for a walk b) play tennis c) go riding. It is actually Ants’
fault that I have so many ferrets; when I was depressed at the age of 19,
she suggested that I get a pet ferret, due to us having been (for reasons
too nebulous to explain here!) calling each other ‘ferret’ for years. My
first ferret was named Ants in her honour.
Ants is the sort of inspirational person that you don’t often get to meet. She has the ability to juggle many things at once and is very good at anything she sets her mind to. At school Ants was a straight A student (apart from maths GCSE, which I keep telling her she should re-take) and at Edinburgh University she managed to combine running a club night, walking up mountains in Scotland and her degree - she got a First in history
Since leaving university Ants has been climbing up the ladder in the TV world, with programmes as diverse as Wife Swap and The South Bank Show to her credit. She has also co-authored a travel book on Canada and written for a national newspaper.
This trip is a wonderful opportunity for us to fulfil our ambition of travelling together, while at the same time raising some serious money for the brilliant charity Mind.
Last year, a close friend of Ants’ committed suicide and hence, like me, she feels passionate about raising money for Mind and also increasing awareness about mental health issues
Ting
Tong
TT is a spanking new, bright pink, three wheeled mean machine lovingly
built by Anuwat Yuteeraprapa and his band of merry men 15km east of Bangkok
at his Expertise factory. Yet this is no ordinary tuk tuk. In order to
prepare her for the rigours of our 10,000 mile extravaganza Anuwat has custom
built her to supersonic perfection. Special brakes, extra suspension and
a protected undercarriage are just some of the added extras. Not to mention
the personalised horn!
The team will be united for the first time when we fly out to Bangkok
at the end of May to make the final preparations.
