I am running my first half marathon not just for Starlight but also for a best friend. 

My Story is one that doesn't really belong to me, it's the story of someone far more inspirational, eloquent and unbelievable. It is the story also of many children throughout the UK (and indeed across the world) who have often had to battle a lot of obstacles in life from an early age. These obstacles are often much more difficult that others experience in a lifetime.

I first met Jessi Parrott at Warwick University in 2010. She has Cerebral Palsy and for that very reason has been in an electric wheelchair and unable to walk from birth. I won't go into all the details but in a pretty grim time for Jessi, the charity Starlight wanted to help. They wanted to brighten up her days when she was at her lowest. When Jessi was asked to choose her wish that she wanted granted, she immediately decided she wanted to meet one of her favourite actresses, who had helped her through the tough time, Keira Knightley. She asked for this not for her own pleasure but so that she could thank Keira for her support throughout the dark period. Jessi had used the film Pride and Prejudice (incidentally a shared favourite book of ours) to help her to forget the pain she was experiencing.

Starlight didn't just grant Jessi's wish, they grant wishes for all children with terminal illnesses that throw these obstacles in the way of everyday life and they do it on a regular basis. They are true heroes and achieve so much for such a small charity. Please read about everything they do here, there are some truly inspirational stories: 

www.starlight.org.uk

Jessi therefore decided to try to raise as much as possible for Starlight. In her typical selfless way (sorry Jess, I'm trying to keep cringe displays of love to a minimum), she began to work towards taking her first steps in order to collect her degree. It was one of THE most emotional days on our graduation day and I feel genuinely privileged to have shared it with Jess. In the process, she raised over £2000 and rest assured this money went a LONG way for Starlight. Jessi is still in pain every day but she is always the girl with a smile on her face. The one who puts everyone else before herself and has a countenance that we should all aspire to.

This time, Jessi and I were chatting and decided that maybe it'd be a good idea to see if we could team up on the fundraising. She didn't particularly want to have to ask people for money again so we came up with an idea that we could try and do little bits of fundraising. She is undertaking walking by 2015 which can be read about on her blog (www.walkingby2015.blogspot.co.uk) and  this is where I came in:

I took up running last year when for my 6th race for life, I went for a 10k and now vaguely like something I used to despise. I have since done 2 charity 10ks and now am looking for an even tougher challenge. I (potentially naively) am hoping that by running a half marathon, the small pain I feel in the challenge, will be in some way an insignificant indication of the pain that some people have to endure every day. This is not a space for a sob story, it is simply a way to grant the wishes of children who deserve a bit of cheering up! I'm sure Jessi, as much as I would be gutted if it was misconstrued in any other way.

In the meantime, Jessi is taking on a new challenge (Walking by 2015) and I for one will be with her every metaphorical if not literal step of the way. Together, we're hoping our efforts might be worthy of a cheeky sponsor every now and again ;). So, please sponsor and, possibly even more importantly, go and read about STARLIGHT!!!!!

Sorry, I'll stop the rambling, well done if you made it this far!

Jade (and Jessi)

xxx