Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Back in 1997 my mother Sandy was an active mother of two who in her spare time worked as a teacher at the Gunnersbury Triangle Nature Reserve, teaching school groups about the wildlife and plantlife that lived in the wonderful nature reserve that she had helped to save from the developers several years previously. She was known by my friends as 'mad Sandy with the bike' as she used to do a week long shop for a family of 4 on a tiny shopping bike, flying around Chiswick with Sainsbury's bags hanging off everywhere. Hazard lights, a horn and a 'Wide Load' sign would probably worked better than her little bell but there were no fatalities so we can laugh about it now!

In 1998 Sandy was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and in 1999 it was confirmed that she has the Primary Progressive type, which, as the name suggests, gets worse.

In laymans terms MS is a scarring of the nerve fibres of the Central Nervous System which stops or delays messages getting from the brain to their desired body part.

In general, people with MS can experience partial or complete loss of any function that is controlled by, or passes through, the brain or spinal cord.

In Sandy's case, the easiest way of describing her symptoms is that it is similar to the effects of a stroke. Her left leg is un-responsive and her left hand is in a constant state of contraction, meaning that she can grip things but then cannot release them without assistance from her other hand.

Her energy levels are constantly low and she needs a siesta each afternoon and although she is still able to get around the house, she is now almost completely housebound.

She is still fairly self sufficient around the house which is pretty incredible but she is supported and cared for where necessary by my amazing father Brian, who has the patience of a saint. Myself and my sister make ourselves available as much as we can but Dad is the main helper and does an amazing job.

In the future it might be necessary to enlist some reinforcements in the shape of a trained nurse and this is where the MS Trust comes in. They provide trained carers who have a special understanding of the specific difficulties caused by MS to assist sufferers and their families.

They do incredible work educating families on the best ways of helping and are a kind and loving bunch of people. By running the London Marathon for the MS Trust I hope to raise not only funds to assist them in continuing their excellent work but also awareness and understanding of what my Mum is going through.

Please dig deep. Those of you who know me well will know that I am a Rugby playing P.E. teacher and will probably think that I am fairly fit. Not this kind of fit. I am used to sprinting 5 meters and then giving someone else the ball... 26.2 miles is likely to kill me. And thats if my knees dont give out first... I am lacking cartilage in both so training might get interesting!

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So please dig deep and donate now.