On 7th October 2017 I was unfortunate to suffer a major Stroke which left me paralysed on my left hand side.

The stroke was caused when a previously unknown hole in my heart (PFO) allowed a blood clot to travel up to my brain.

Thankfully advanced medical training meant I self diagnosed within about 20 seconds and managed to summon an emergency ambulance and I was being treated in HDU within 2 hours.

Within 3 days of my Stroke I realised that I needed a goal to work towards and motivate me in what has been a very long road to recovery.

When I say recovery it is all relative. I will probably always require a leg splint to walk and it's anticipated that I will never be able to run again (but I have proved them wrong several times so far). I also have little functional usage of my left arm and hand. But it could be a lot worse and I have to continue to believe that further improvements are possible and my heart surgery to close the hole has been a success.

This half marathon will be the culmination of 1 year of intense rehab and whilst I won't be threatening any records (4 hours would be a result), just finishing will, I hope, illustrate to all at Perth Royal Infirmary what their efforts have allowed me to do. And act as a way to thank everyone of them, and for all the support that I have had from my friends and family.

And raise some cash for a good cause at the same time.

I am undertaking this challenge to support the British Red Cross and their work to help those in crisis; whoever and wherever they are.

As a member of Team Red Cross, I know that all my hard work in training and fundraising will really make a difference. Your support could help save lives in the UK and across the globe. The list below gives you an idea of just how much your sponsorship could do:
£1 could buy 3 foil blankets for use by evacuees and survivors of an emergency
£5 could provide drinking water for four people for a year
£10 could heat a social care centre in Mongolia for a month
£20 could buy a first aid kit for Emergency Response teams to use in the UK
£25 could provide a volunteer with a home based care kit which will last for one year and provide care to around 120 people who are housebound or bedridden in South Africa
£50 could provide technical support and seed rice to 12 low land rice farmers in Liberia
£80 could provide treatment to over 250 people affected by cholera
£100 could provide transport for a vulnerable person after a stay in hospital, and someone to stay with them while they settle back into their home
£250 could provide food, drinks and refreshments stock for around 50 vulnerable people displaced from an emergency in the UK

















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