Dinosaur Alex and Uncle Octopus.

Hey guys. It has been 3 long years since I personally raised money for charitable causes. Since then I have had two kids, grown old, and watched others undertake brilliant fundraising efforts. So it is time once again for me to step up to the plate and do my bit.

My three-year old nephew Alex (the dinosaur in the picture) was sadly diagnosed with a brain tumour called Medulloblastoma in September last year. As treatments for this type of cancer have to target the whole brain and spinal cord, they are aggressive and can leave long-term, life-altering disabilities for children who survive.

To date, Alex has undergone an 8.5 hour brain operation, 6 weeks of daily radiotherapy under general anaesthetic with chemotherapy at the same time, and is now undertaking a further 9 months of chemotherapy. He is currently on a Europe-wide trial called PNET5, the first child in the UK to undergo this. It will be part of the care he is receiving at Great Ormond Street , UCLH and Watford Hospital. Alex's type of brain tumour can benefit from PNET5 treatment resulting in fewer immediate side effects and a reduced risk of critical long-term disabilities, without any negative impact on length of survival.

As members of the family and extended family are undertaking various fundraising efforts to raise money for for The Brain Tumour Charity and specifically their funding for the PNET5 trial, I am doing my bit too.

3 years ago I played singles badminton matches non-stop for 12 hours straight (if you would like to see the video, follow this link; https://bit.ly/2JqTbHf). 12 hours. 93 matches. 71799 steps. 32.93 miles. No stopping. No toilet break. This year, on Sunday August 5th in London, I will be playing 13 hours straight to help the cause above. 

Love J x

P.S. Apologies for the novel!

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