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In November 2013, my 18 month old son George passed away in his sleep, from brainstem encephalitis.  Encephalitis can be caused by any number of common viruses, but no-one really knows why in most people those viruses just lead to colds, stomach bugs, measles, etc, while in rare cases they attack the brain instead.  There are symptoms, but in toddlers, it is basically unnoticeable from most day to day toddler illnesses – headaches, drowsiness, irritability, loss of appetite.  The noticeable symptoms require being able to speak and explain how you feel, which toddlers can’t do.  The encephalitis that George suffered from - brainstem encephalitis – is even rarer, but because of what it attacks, the onset can be very quick, and much harder to survive.

George was actually showing no symptoms that evening, except for being a little more tired than usual.  But just a few hours later he had lost his life, and our lives had changed forever.  My wife Hannah was pregnant with our daughter at the time, and so George never got to meet his little sister, and Isabelle is having to grow up without the love and protection of her big brother.  Hannah and I will never be able to have even one photo with our whole family in it.

Little is known about why a virus that for George’s friends probably resulted in just a typical toddler illness, but in George’s case had fatal consequences.  There needs to be more research completed as virtually every question on the subject remains unanswered.  While thankfully pretty rare, it can hit anyone, at any time, regardless of how fit and healthy you might be.  In addition, because of the rarity of brainstem encephalitis in particular, it’s also unknown how susceptible Isabelle could be to it too.  For both those reasons I want to raise money for research into this disease which will impact my family for the rest of our lives, and impacts many other people across the country. 

So I’m putting my overweight and aged body through running/waddling 26.2 miles of London streets on 26^th April, in the name of the Encephalitis Society.  As a regular customer at the office tuck shop, as well as having a very capable cake baker living at home, this is going to be quite a challenge.  However, I’ve always liked a challenge, and definitely want to make my family proud.

Anything you can do to support this very worthwhile charity, I'll be very grateful for.

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