Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

As most of you know, our son Hugo was diagnosed with  Biliary Atresia at 5 weeks, a serious life long liver condition. Our world fell apart when Hugo was diagnosed and I started to realise that at 6 weeks, I would have to carry him into an operating theatre to undergo a seven hour operation, learn to give him six different kinds of medication and come to terms with living with the uncertainty that at some point in his life he might need a liver transplant.

Our first year was pretty tough, and I don't think I have cried so much in my entire life. There was deep sadness that I would not able to breast feed Hugo as he needed special milk, constant worry that he might be failing to thrive, stress on how to administer numerous medication at different times of the day and countless admissions for suspected liver related infections. 

We have been blessed with the amount of love and support we have received over the last 4 years, particularly from family, colleagues at work and old as well as new friends. Shortly after Hugo's operation, we were given the details of CLDF, the charity for children with liver disease. Initially I could not bear to call them, as it meant accepting that Hugo had a condition that would not go away, but as time passed one of the staff got in touch  to check how we were coping. It was a life line, having someone who we had never met, just letting us know that he was there if we needed him, understanding what we were going through and just listening. More  recently we have started to attend family days with  Hugo run by CLDF, which give families the opportunity to meet with other 'liver families' and the children a chance to meet other children like them. We will be going to our first liver conference next week where we will find out about the research being carried out on the various childhood liver conditions funded in part by CLDF, and are incredibly humbled and thankful for all of the wonderful work CLDF do. 

For this reason, I have decided that it is time to give back, and raise money for CLDF by running the Great South Run.

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. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Many many thanks xxxx

Carolina, Lionel (and Hugo!)