Fundraiser fulfils promise of doing a new thing every day for a year He said: "By the time we got to the hospital Sian had lost so much blood, we were told she was just hours away from death. I would give anything to have avoided that fateful day. Because of the emergency surgery Mrs Roberts underwent, she lost one of her fallopian tubes, making it less likely that she would conceive in future. Mr Roberts, an engineer, started an internet blog to record his exploits, asking readers to donate a penny for each new thing he did. Among his "firsts" over the next 366 leap year days were trying archery, wrestling and falconry, eating Iranian food, meeting the newsreader Jon Snow, changing a baby's nappy, cooking a roast dinner and building a garden bench. He also saw the Olympic torch relay, held a snake, posed as a mannequin, walked like an Egyptian, conducted an orchestra, joined a choir and was bench-pressed by a friend. He said: "It's been an exhausting year. When you work a full-time job, after a long day in the office I just want to come home and park myself on the sofa, but I did not get that luxury this year. However, I will never forget the bonkers year I've had. It will be the only year in my life that I will be able to remember something I did every single day. I will definitely miss it next year. He said the scariest thing he did was getting into the ring with a heavyweight wrestling champion, JD "The Saviour" Knight. "I am 5ft 8in so this guy towered over me," he said. He was a monster, and he didn't go easy on me either. I could barely get out of bed the next day. After trying a deep fried Mars bar for the first time, he wrote on his blog: "I had to have a shower after I finished...and I still felt unclean. Each mouthful took a day of my life. Some of his "firsts" were planned, such as his January 8 entry, when he wrote: "Finally got around to meeting our neighbours properly - Chris, Tracy & Joe. They ROCK!" and posted a photo of himself with them. Others happened by pure chance; on May 14th he posted: "On the train home, Sian and I sat next to the legendary broadcaster, Jon Snow. He had just spent the evening at a charity event at the Royal Albert Hall, in the company of Prince William and Kate. Jon Snow was a genuinely lovely fella. I ended up booking him a taxi from Newbury Station - and boring him senseless with this little blog! He seemed startled and confused when I told him that that he was my 'new thing for the day!' He gained thousands of followers, and on Dec 31 he delighted them by writing: "Became an expectant Dad! Today I am proud to announce that I'm a genuine, bona fide father-to-be. And I could not be happier! Beside an ultrasound scan picture of the couple's unborn child he added: "Please remember the reason for me embarking on this bonkers charity project...although that fateful incident broke my heart, I was grateful that I still had my wonderful wife by my side! And we never gave up hope. If you have had a similar experience to my wife and me, I hope that this final new thing brings you hope too.