In early January 2015, my then 3 year old daughter Madison became very unwell.  Madison was admitted to our local hospital and it quickly became clear that she was deteriorating rapidly.  I remember very clearly being told that the doctors 'did not know how to save her' and she was critically unwell, the plan now was that an emergency ambulance would be with us in minutes to blue light us across London to Evelina Children's Hospital where a specialist team was on standby to receive her.  Her tiny body was lifeless and she was pale and severely bloated and in enormous pain- we had no idea then that her kidneys had now completely failed.  We were rushed straight through to an isolation room on Beach Ward at Evelina where a number of doctors were waiting for Madison.  Almost immediately she was taken to theatre to have a tubes inserted which would enable dialysis to start.  She was also now being fed through tubes as her stomach was being attacked.  I remember being shown a scan of her major organs that were all massively enlarged due to the fluid being held in her body as a result of her renal failure.  All these things were happening and each day that we thought we she would improve, she got worse.  She soon had to have more operations, and more permanent tubes inserted for the dialysis as it became clear that she was not improving in the way they had hoped.

Daily dialysis, frequent operations, blood transfusions, platelet transfusions and feeding tubes were now how she was surviving but her pain was becoming unbearable.  It had got to the stage that she was on morphine and fentanyl together and she was still screaming out in constant pain. 

Just when we thought this was the worst it could get, Madison's breathing crashed and she was amongst other things hallucinating and very very scared.  I remember the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) team running up the stairs to assess her, there was one bed available and they had to make a decision as to who had it.  An amazing doctor made the call to rush her to PICU.  She immediately had another operation and was ventilated.  Our little girl was now on two life support machines, she was on 24/7 dialysis and had machines breathing for her.

We were then told that she had pneumonia and a chest drain was inserted.  I kept asking if she was going to be ok and if we were losing her and being given very honest answers and then overhearing a doctor referring to her as 'the sickest child on the ward' I can't describe the feeling of seeing your child in this way.  It will never leave me.

I was told every time that this certain beep sounded, that was the machine taking a breath on Madison's behalf as she was not strong enough to do it for herself and I remember hearing this beep constantly and regularly whilst looking at the dialysis machine and reading her stories.  It was at that moment I made a promise to myself that if she pulled through and survived this, I would do everything I could to raise money for this amazing hospital.

One evening, Matt and I took our first walk outside of the hospital to get some dinner from across the road.  When we were walking over, PICU called us, we expected the worst and I just burst out crying in the street.  Our amazing PICU nurse started to speak and she spoke the words that would turn this around Madison's kidneys had started to work again.  We ran back over and the nurses were all celebrating- this tiny, brave girl hooked up to a million wires and machines had somehow come through and shown some signs of improvement, we felt like we had just won the lottery!

Over the next few days, Madison was taken off dialysis and the ventilator and was discharged from PICU back up to Beach Ward.  Slowly, she then was taken off the feeding tubes and allowed to have her first food and drink for over a month- her smile said it all.  Madison then had to try and walk again and after a few days, was strong enough to try walking on her own.  She was doing it- she was fighting back and getting stronger.

The day we took Madison home was the proudest day of my life.  We had missed her brothers first birthday during our Hospital stay (not quite how you plan it!) and being able to reunite them after so long was the best feeling in the world- they went straight in for HUGE cuddle ❤️ She now sees her amazing doctors regularly for check ups and scans but is attending school, being an amazing big sister and enjoys every part of being a 6 year old. 

I have no doubt in my mind that without Evelina Children's Hospital and the outstanding teams of medical staff that helped Madison every step of the way, and continue to do so, our lives would be very different.

People have told me I am mad to attempt this, and yes, they are right, but I hope in reading this you can start to understand my reasons for running and will donate to make a difference to other sick children who deserve the chance to fight for their life the way Madison did.

Your support means more than you can ever know.  Thank you x

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