On October 21st, 1997, my baby brother Owain was born. Unfortunately, he was seriously ill, and died 17 days later at Birmingham Children's Hospital. Since then, October 21st has always been a day full of emotions, often sadness, as we remember the brother who was never able to come home. This year, that's going to change - on October 21st, 2012 (Owain's 15th birthday), I'll be running the Bupa Great Birmingham Run for Birmingham Children's Hospital. Keep reading to find out why, and please donate anything you can!

Birmingham Children's Hospital has helped my family twice, in ways that we can never repay them for, but I hope that by raising money for them with this event, I can help! 

When I was three months old, I developed an illness called intussusception, which would have killed me without the staff at Birmingham Children's Hospital, who saved my life. 

When I was three, my baby brother was born - Owain Rhys Matthews. By this point we were living in Wales, and he was born at Wrexham Maelor Hospital. Unfortunately he was very ill; he had Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Deficiency and as he worsened, he was transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital. Unfortunately they couldn't save his life like they did mine, but they made his last few days comfortable. I have a box full of mementos of Owain and one of the ones that sticks in my mind is a certificate of bravery made for him by the nurses - they called him Owain "Taffy" Matthews and made him a beautiful little certificate which we still have and treasure to this day. 

Nothing can repay the hospital for all they have done - not just in saving my life to enable me to take part in this event, but for giving us happy memories of my brother and making his last few days comfortable. I want to raise as much money as possible for them so they can help more families in situations like ours; to save lives at an early age. I'm now 18 years old and about to go to university, and yet without Birmingham Children's Hospital, I wouldn't even be here; and I will always be grateful to them for what they did for my family during Owain's stay at the hospital. 

Please dig deep and give whatever you can. I know the economic climate is tough at the moment and we're all having to tighten our belts, but one of the services we need the most is children's hospitals like Birmingham. They do so much for their patients and families, and it's their 150th year this year, which is why I think it's so important to donate as much as you are able to - or even to share the link to this page! 

I'm not a runner, I never have been, but all the training and pain will be worth it to see the crowds on October 21st, to run past the old hospital site where I and my brother were treated but more than anything, to know that I'm making my family and my brother proud, and giving a little back to the hospital that gave us so much. 

My fiance, Dafydd, is also running, and you can sponsor him too - www.justgiving.com/dafydd-williams09 !