Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

 

Thank you to everyone for all your donations, i completed the marathon in 4hrs and 20mins exactly what i wanted to achieve.  I'm so pleased to of raised these funds for my beautiful niece Maddie, and i know my mummy was there with me today.

Once again from all my family thank you. xxx

My mummy passed away  August 22nd 2009 and even though people are probably wondering why I am running to help Madelene my niece rather than a cancer research charity, I know this is what my mummy, 'mumskin' as I called her, would have wanted me to do. You see Mum wasn't into all this cancer research stuff. She never really accepted that she had a horrible disease. Our mummy, my dad's beautiful wife, our Doll Doll's wonderful daughter, was the most bravest woman in the world. Even with the amount of pain she was in, she always managed to make herself look presentable. With her make-up and her ‘fab’ dress sense, she would always say, "Bumble (it's what she called me, don't ask) always, no matter what, take off your make up at the end of a night and make sure you put it back on the next day, as I do"!!!

So I'm running this marathon in memory of my mum and to raise money for PACE, a special school my beautiful niece Maddie hopes to attend.  Any amount raised will help keep this wonderful school open, as it is primarily funded by charitable donations.

Maddie is the most beautiful, smiley 2 year old you will ever come across and don't be fooled because she knows everything that goes on around her, she just needs a little help to move across a room. Any amount you can give is really appreciated by my mum, Maddie and all the family xxx
 
Below is written by my brother Serge, Madelene's Daddy (please take the time to have a read)

When you think beyond the last two years it is hard to remember mum before the horrible disease took control of her. One thing that always stuck out was her positive nature, sometimes to the point where it wound me up, but she would never listen to negatives, only wanting to hear the good and ignoring the bad.

There were a lot of parallels between mum and my daughter Madelene. They were closer and had more in common than many people would have believed, unfortunately for the wrong reasons, but you could always see a connection between them. Maddie and Mum were diagnosed the same week, a horrendous week in November 2007 and their long but very different and difficult journeys began.

Throughout this time I started to recognise parallels, whether it was the drugs they took (the same on occasion), the muscle spasms or the good and bad days they were having. But as time went on mum went from denying that Maddie would be different to slowly starting to accept her condition and taking time to listen to her physical impairments, while at the same time she also started to accept her own predicament. I do feel that at some point they crossed over, Maddie’s pain eased as if it was almost absorbed by mum.

Mum was stubborn, she didn’t want to know what would happen and only wanted to hear that she was going to be okay. The same attitude was adopted for Maddie “Of course she will walk Serge”, “She is developing like any other baby”. She was always the same for her own condition – irritatingly positive!

Trips to the doctor were difficult. The use of the word ‘chemo’ scared her so much - as soon as it was mentioned that she would not have to lose her hair she would jump at the chance of trying the drug. That was mum – her vanity was more important than health, she was beautiful and she did not want to lose that. When she went to the clinic in Germany she packed a swimsuit, two evening dresses, a sarong and a sun hat. She nearly didn’t go – not because of the treatment but because the room did not have a view and a double sink! Yes, maybe there was a hope she could do some sunbathing but ultimately it was her support blanket and it is how she managed to get through and fight over the last 2 years.

She was incredible and an inspiration, she refused to follow the usual course, a hindrance to the Oncologist but all the same – unique and I am sure a lesson to anyone she met during her treatment.

While my mum is no longer with us to help, her spirit lives on. She has transferred some of that irritatingly positive nature on to me.... while others around tend to be a bit more realistic or practical about Maddie’s future, I still believe that she will lead a wholesome life albeit somewhat different to the social norm! I still have hope that she will say the words “mummy” and “daddy”, be able to feed herself and have an argument with her younger sister Emily.... but how do we get there?

Looking at all of the options PACE seems by far the best in order to give Maddie the best opportunity in life. You see, PACE is a school for the physically disabled and while many of the children at the school have a good level of intellect, their physical disabilities slow down their whole development to the point they fail to hit those milestones so important in early years! PACE offers the opportunity for all the Children to fight together to achieve the maximum potential from their lives.  Recently we went to the Children’s Challenge event at Stoke Mandeville Stadium (which many of you know about from the sponsorship), and it was inspiring to see so many children, as well as Maddie, trying so hard to achieve what me and you take for granted day-after-day. Whether it is walking five steps or speaking our first words, there were children at the event doing it for the first time, whether using walking sticks to make those steps or pointing their eyes at a computer screen in order to generate those first words. The concentration and courage on every child’s face was like none I have seen before – an inspiration and I implore anybody to see it for themselves. These children have been dealt a horrible hand in life, yet it doesn’t seem to faze them and they all work incredibly hard to achieve those milestones that we all take for granted.

Maddie is in the early years of her battle... the kids at this school are aged 4 and upwards.  Maddie attends the Parent and Child Group at the moment and although she was given the chance to do her challenge which she passed with flying colours.... she still has a couple of years to go before she joins full time, but it is so important we have a school in existence for her to join.... the government don’t want to help so we “Joe Public” need to.

Besides helping this marvellous school go from strength to strength I do think it is important to highlight how Maddie got her cerebral palsy. Two words ‘Strep B’, please pass this link to anyone you know who is currently pregnant or thinking of having children. http://www.gbss.org.uk/content.php?section_id=3&sub_id=8&content=GBS

Whilst Maddie is beautiful and has a smile that lights up any room, the damage caused by this horrible infection led to her meningitis and septicaemia and in turn her brain damage and cerebral palsy. Maddie is unable to sit or stand unaided, she cannot use her hands, she cannot talk, she cannot feed herself.... although she can give the best cuddles!!!!

Milou is running the marathon for a wonderful cause and we are so grateful that she is doing this for Maddie’s future and all the other children with Cerebral Palsy at the PACE Centre... it means the world to us and we will be cheering her on every step of the way. I just hope that it is not all in vain and that this is just the start of a long awareness campaign for a fantastic school that is there for mine and so many other families.

When mum lay in the hospital bed in Frankfurt two weeks before she died, she turned round to me and said “When I get out of this place and better I promise that I will start helping a bit more with Maddie”. Mum is out of that place now and is finally getting the opportunity to help Madelene....

Serge