Mungo King of Hearts: Basia’s Story

A message from Basia Newson-Smith 💜

Mungo was my very dear and much-loved friend; he had the biggest, most open heart. It seems ironic that he died of cardiac arrest at the ridiculously young age of 48.

A fitting legacy to him is one which has the potential to save lives in the rural community which he passionately loved, and called home, in the last few years of his life: hence the idea of a defibrillator. He would have LOVED the thought of a life saved from the same condition which took him.

Mungo regularly canoed short distances on the River Wye with family, friends and visitors from Hay. Mungo had expressed a wish to canoe further-it is actually possible to canoe 100 miles to Chepstow without restriction on this magnificent river- and together they had planned a 3-day trip for friends, to take place in 2017.

Sadly, and for obvious reasons, this never came to fruition, but it instead formed the perfect foundation for my fundraising challenge: I canoed 100 miles to Chepstow on the River Wye, which took 5 days and involved wild camping and overnighting in basic campsites. When mine and Mungos’ pal Aubrey suggested this as my challenge I was inspired, if not a little nervous: it is not for the faint-hearted, particularly for a novice canoeist like me: I have canoed just once in my life, over a distance of 5 miles! I had an amazing team supporting me, but it pushed me to my limit and kicked me right out of my comfort zone.

The following summer I abseiled down the i360 on Brighton seafront at dawn on a Saturday (18th May). It was epic.

We currently have 3 Mungo defibs in situ and 1 on order . . .

Then the pandemic hit and efforts were put on pause.

The long-term goal is for fundraising in Mungos name to continue in many forms, creating a permanent fund in Mungo’s memory. He would have loved the idea of his friends doing crazy things (like canoeing/camping in the rain and jumping off tall buildings) to raise money for his beloved community and beyond.

I can just hear him now: “Bloody brilliant, darling”

2023 is going to be a big year of challenges, the next being the ‘Beast to the East’ 28 mile (hilly!) cycle ride, taking place on Sunday 21st May – more details about the event and how to support here.

This is for you Mungo x