Hello to all,

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to read this.

Having had the chance to meet our beautiful daughter, Georgina Rae Haynes for only a short time, i promised her that i would do something to remember her by. So here it is!

I ran the Ikano Bank Nottingham Marathon on the 24th September 2017 and raised a phenomenal amount of money towards a charity that lives very close to my heart. I wanted to continue this journey to raise more money for bliss but unfortunately the nottingham marathon took its toll and put me out of action for over a year.

 I suffered a bad knee injury which led to countless physio appointments, injections and knee surgery, but with the rehabilitation and determination for this amazing charity, I am doing the London marathon in honour of our beautiful daughter Georgie. 

So a bit about Georgie...

Georgina Rae Haynes was born prematurely (32 weeks and 2 Days) on the 18th December 2016 at 00:21am. She weighed 5 pounds 11 ounces. on first assessment from the amazing neonatal team at the QMC in Nottingham, she was diagnosed with a rare condition call Hydrops Fetalis, which is a serious abnormal accumulation of fluid around the vital organs. The neonatal department were amazing in all their efforts to keep her alive through the night from when she was born and thereafter.

 After Stabilising Georgie on a number of drugs and a ventilator, Georgie was with us for 9 wonderful days where we were a mum and dad for the first time, a time that we could only wish was longer that we got to have with her. However, with all things, the positive out of all of this, was that we are a fortunate, lucky couple who got to meet our baby, if that was only for 9 days.

Through many marathons herself, Georgie battled. She overcame some tough obstacles showing me fight and spirit that can only inspire me and Vicky for our future.

Hence the reason for me running the Nottingham Marathon in 2017 and now running the London marathon in 2019. This is my way of saying thank you to Georgie, she will always be in our thoughts and we will always love you always.

The Charity...

So if you could spare as much money as you can to donate to a charity organisation that i will be running for called Bliss.  Bliss are specialist support charity function at the Neonatal clinic at the QMC in Nottingham. Their primary supporting function is to assist with babies who have been born prematurely or sick.

Our Experience with Bliss was somewhat unique in that we had the Christmas period with Georgie, to which Bliss quite honestly overwhelmed us. On Christmas Day Bliss supported each family on the neonatal unit with Gifts for the babies, including a special visit from Santa in the early hours whilst the babies slept (we do have photographic evidence that Santa is real!)

Even this small gesture, gave us all a sense of normality in such a challenging environment. This only touches the surface of what Bliss do and did for us during our time in the neonatal unit. This showed us how much Bliss care about situations we had to experience. This showed us how much they deserve all the support in the world to help babies and their families through a time that has not quite gone to plan.

For that reason, we thank Bliss for all they did for us in such a short space of time.

So my plea, is not for you to donate because i am running a marathon. I am doing this regardless, as i made a promise to my daughter, but please donate to help support other families through their challenging times. Bliss can and will support other babies that need their support.

Many thanks for taking your time out to read this. If you have nothing better to do on the 28th April 2019, come and cheer me on and get me a pint at the end of it!

For Georgie xxx

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.