Hi everyone, 

First of all Thankyou for taking the time to visit and read this fundraising page. I’m writing this on behalf of one my bestest friends The beautiful Katie.

Some of you will know Katie as the face of jumpfit; a qualified personal trainer, full of energy, shamelessly shouty and ALWAYS smiling whilst pushing you to your max! Katie is a 39 year old mum of 3, a Nanny of two, and a total badass.

Several years ago Katie started noticing oddities occurring in her body....odd pains, aches and sudden loss of limb movement. After being dismissed as ‘in her head’ on more than one occasion and after many tests, pokes and prods she was diagnosed in 2021 with Functional Neurological Disorder (give FND a google 😉). This disorder effects the brain/nervous system and their interactions, interrupting normal function of the body.

At this present day you can find Katie still with a smile on her face, still pushing me hard (she gave me her baby of her Jumpfit class) but sadly experiencing the developing symptoms of FND. She’s now unable to train people and unable to work. Many days this condition renders her right arm useless, or it develops a mind of its own twitching and moving involuntarily. She is unable to walk and support herself easily and simple tasks such as boiling a kettle, having a bath and dressing or making a meal are impossible. Often moving around can result in a visit to A & E for stitches or treatment from falls/burns etc or can lead people to stare or assume she’s drunk....

Every day she leaves me beyond proud to be her friend, she is stubborn in the face of adversity and determined to push herself to prove that FND will not define her; despite knowing this may develop and grow in severity as years pass.

Katie has decided that she’d very much like to raise money for research into FND. A condition with no known cause or cure but something very real and yet somehow fairly unknown.

She has set her sights on a walk of around 20 miles around from Porlock Weir to Lynton along the South West coast and returning from Lynton to Watersmeet she’s also asked a few of us to support her along the way.