Thank you for visiting my fund raising page.

On Sunday 14th September 2008 I shall be taking part in the Robin Hood Half Marathon. 

Brainwave is a fantastic charity that helps children who have brain injury’s, genetic conditions, and developmental delays. (www.brainwave.org.uk) One of the many children that they help is Lois Harnett. For those of you that haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Lois and her family here’s a little information about her and her condition.

Lois was born Jan ’99, 8 wks early. Problems were immediately obvious;
She was diagnosed with Cytomegalovirus (CMV) after 3 days, a condition which Lois had contracted via Yvonne (her mum) during the 1st 13 weeks of pregnancy. This is the time during which CMV will do the most damage;
Brain Scan revealed significant areas of calcification, caused by haemorrhaging whilst in the womb;  

Lois is now 9 & ½, and is totally dependant. She will never become independent, and will never walk. She is in very good general health at the moment, and has had a very “good” year health-wise, following on from an extremely “bad” year when she was in and out of hospital at very regular intervals. She’s had in excess of 10 operations to date, some of which were a lot less successful than others. Because of the extreme reaction she had to the last op, there is no more surgery planned for the immediate future. 

It’s not all doom and gloom though!!!

Lois goes to a special needs school in Aspley, and hasn’t been off ill for months! She enjoys school, and even misses it when she’s off. (Strange for a 9 year old!) She does well at school, and the teachers/assistants like her, as her slightly rebellious nature is like a breath of fresh air. She enjoys swimming (at school and at David Lloyd), loves going to birthday parties (even if she doesn’t know the party girl/boy) and likes nothing better  than chilling out listening to some Irish Music with either of her Grannies. When she’s in the right mood, she will demand centre-stage and make sure everyone’s listening to her jokes/stories/verbal assassinations of those nearest and dearest to her.

“Lois first attended Brainwave when she was 20 months old, and has been re-assessed twice a year since then. On each visit she is given a revised programme of cognitive therapy, which is then carried out at home with her parents/helpers. The results are very evident, and have certainly improved Lois’s mobility, comfort and general quality of life.”

Please keep the donations rolling in, i need all the encouragement and motivation i can get:

*I hate getting up early to go for a run,
*I don’t exercise enough,
*I drink too much,
*I eat rubbish,
*I drink too much,
*I’m unfit,
*I drink too much,
*I’m not getting any younger!!!,

The good news is that by sponsoring me now online, you can help me to live a little healthier and longer and best of all you can help raise lots of much needed  money for Brainwave.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Brainwave will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

So please sponsor me now!

Many thanks for your support.