This year I will be taking part in The London Marathon...my very first MARATHON... after winning a ballot place through my local running club....The Wrekin Roadrunners. 

I always said that if I was ever lucky enough to get a place, I would like to raise funds for Telford's Princess Royal Hospital's Children Ward. This is something I hold dear to my heart as two of my young nephews were treated there as babies.

Ashley, now 19, was only 2 weeks old when he started suffering from Pyloric Stenosis, an uncommon condition in infants that blocks food from entering the small intestine. For the next 2 weeks, Ashley basically starved and lost 3 to 4lb in weight. At 4 weeks old, the hospital operated on him to open the valve to the small intestine. Without this surgery, Ashley would have died.

Ty, Ashley's little brother, was only 7 months old when he received treatment at The PRH. At teatime on Christmas Day 2009, Ty was admitted with what we thought was just a common cold but he was diagnosed with Bronchiolitis, which is caused by a virus known as RSV. The infection causes the smallest airways in the lungs (the bronchioles) to become infected and inflamed. Ty remained in hospital until New Year's Eve. He was left with a damaged lung and suffers from asthma. He has a lower immune system than other people and is forced to take steroids on a regular basis to help combat this.

So folks, that's my story....without The PRH, Ashley and Ty would not be here today. 

If you would like to help me raise funds for the Childrens Ward by making a donation, however large or small, then I would be most grateful.

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.