Updated on Apr 15th 2011 at 5:42 AM from the JustGiving API

it's 5.30 on Friday 15th and we are getting ready to leave for London in a couple of hours. it's a bundle of excitement and nerves in our house!

Updated on Apr 15th 2011 at 5:40 AM from the JustGiving API

Thankyou so much to all those who have so generously donated. I've now reached my target and raised £2500 :) thankyou again!

On April 17th 2011 i will be running the Virgin London Marathon in memory of my Dad who passed away in 2008.

I am running the marathon in order to raise money for The British Heart Foundation who are special to me as heart problems have affected three members of my family. My Dad had a heart transplant, my step-dad had a triple heart bypass and my Grandfather passed away when i was about 5 years old from a heart attack.

After years of being vey ill with an enlarged heart which was not working efficiently, my Dad needed a heart transplant which he recieved in 2000 when i was 16 and my sister was 13. he had a few years of fantastic health before his new heart also began to enlarge and reject. his health began to deteriorate slowly until September 2008 when my sister and i decided that he needed to be hospitalised. He was so ill that he was virtually bed ridden. he was weak, had coughing fits, couldnt seem to eat and was generally very very ill. He was taken into hospital on 8th September 2008. he never came out again.

whilst in hospital they discovered that in addition to his heart problems, he also had a massive blood clot on his lung which had starved it of oxygen. his lung was infected and had pretty much died. there was nothing they could do to make him better. at this point my brave Dad took the decision to stop all of his medication (and in the final week he also refused food and water). he was in so much pain and felt so ill that he didnt want to prolong the inevitable. He passed away on 28th October 2008. only a few weeks after the birth of his first Grandchild - Rhian. he only got to meet her a couple of times and never got to hold her - he was too weak.

This was probably the worst thing i will ever have to experience in my life. This i why i am running the marathon for the BHF in memory of my brilliant Dad. the BHF do fantastic research and also help to educate the public about looking after their own hearts better. this is why i need to raise £2500. if it wasnt for the work the BHF have done, then i probably wouldnt have had the extra 8 years with my lovely dad.

its not so long ago that i wouldnt have even thought about running for the bus! i now run at least 3 times a week (more now im in training!) and have lost 7 stone in weight. im sure my dad would have been proud of me. i know he is looking down on me.

Please, please donate as much as you are able to. i am eternally grateful to the BHF and also to Papworth Hospital where he had his transplant, aftercare and spent his final days being looked after by their amazing staff.

Thankyou so much for taking the time to read this and to donate. this marathon means the world to me.

Keelie xxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

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