On Sunday October 9th, just 3 days before the 20th anniversary of the Bali Bombing, I shall be running the Royal Parks Half Marathon in support of Dan’s Fund For Burns. This charity, close to my heart, was named after Dan Miller, a close friend who was among 202 people who tragically lost their lives in this terrorist attack.

My friend Polly lost her husband, Dan and her best friend Annika and 7 other friends. She was the sole survivor of her table of 10 that night and had only been married 5 weeks. Polly survived the bombing by pulling herself out of the burning aftermath of the bombing and suffered burns to 43% of her body. Help came in the form of the Australians and she was kept alive by some touring Aussie Rules footie players and then patched up in Sanglah before being flownto Brisbane where they saved her life. 

In light of all this horror, Polly needed to make something good come from this, bring some light to the darkness, misery and loss and decided to raise money for burns survivors. Her aim was to do more good than evil. With the 20th anniversary of the charity early next year, the charity has raised over £2.5mn and has become one of three major burns charities in the UK. Helping countless burn survivors rebuild their lives and provide financial, critical and emotional support and donating to improve the NHS services with providing a wide range of aftercare support.

I will be running the Half Marathon in honour of Dan and in support of Polly and the incredible work Dan's Fund for Burns has done in supporting burn survivors for 19 years. Please join me in helping this small and impactful charity. Many thanks.