Daniel Read
Run4Anya - Brighton Marathon '13
Fundraising for Solving Kids’ Cancer UK
Story
"Anya has neuroblastoma, a frighteningly aggressive childhood cancer. She has already had lots of cancer treatments in the UK and has done really well so far. Now Anya’s best chance of beating the disease lie in America. The treatment Anya will receive in the United States is not available in the same format in the UK, where anti-GD2 and IL2, or just anti-GD2 alone, are given as part of a randomised trial. The proposed treatment and associated costs of £250,000 will not be funded by the NHS which is why Anya needs everybody's help."
My name is Dan, and I am going to be running the Brighton Marathon on 14th April 2013 on behalf of Anya's appeal.
Anya is the same age as my daughter, Katie. My wife, Amy, knows of Anya via the March 2011 BabyCentre forum, and when she showed me Anya's page, I couldn't help but imagine little Katie's body having to go through the same treatment Anya's has- and being so brave with it too! I felt, as anyone would, that I wanted to help in any way I could.
About a year ago, I lost 5 stone (down to just over 11 st.). I did this by changing my lifestyle somewhat- I went from being a beer guzzling curry muncher to a calorie obsessed, (almost) teetotaller. This about-turn in my lifestyle came when, one night after several cans of lager, I finally felt I'd had enough. Katie was 6 months old, and I wasn't being a particularly active Dad to her. So, I knocked the beer on the head, and set about loosing the weight. And I also did a lot of running.
So, I want to use this to help little Anya. I was honoured to have been given The Neuroblastoma Alliance's place in this year's Brighton Marathon for Anya's appeal, and am already training hard for it. It's quite a daunting challenge (I haven't run competitively since school!) but every post Anya's family puts on Facebook spurs me on even more!
So, all I ask is for a donation towards this vital cause, no matter how small- either by sponsoring me for running this Marathon, by donating directly on the main appeal page (links below), or even by holding your own fundraising event!
Thank you!
http://www.justgiving.com/appeal4anya
http://www.childrenscancer.org.uk/our-appeals/anya.php
http://www.facebook.com/AnyaBenthamAppeal
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate for Anya now.