Yoko Sellek
Caterpillar Run - Tribute to Akio Sellek
Fundraising for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity
Story
Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page, Caterpillar Run - Tribute to Akio Sellek.
I am the mother of Akio Sellek and together with four other runners, will be running in the 2010 London Marathon on the 25th of April for (GOSH) Charity as an tribute to Akio. Akio passed away at GOSH on . He was 16 years old and had been under the care of GOSH since he was two. He suffered from systemic vasculitic inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis and died as a result of a pneumothorax probably caused by fungal infection.
When your child is ill, it becomes irrelevant who you are - everyone is in the same boat. As parents we all try our best to save our children and I was totally determined to save Akio and let him enjoy life as a normal child. Losing him has been absolutely devastating. When I saw Akio, to whom I gave life and who became an extension of me and a true soul mate, lying dead in his hospital bed whilst I was still alive, it just didn't make any sense to me. I felt that I had been robbed, deprived of hope, and that I had failed in the most important mission in my life.
We will be running the marathon in a caterpillar costume. Running a marathon is hard enough but why are we dressing as a caterpillar? The story short: a few weeks prior to Akio’s death, Akio and Julie Payne, the mobility officer at GOSH who looked after Akio over so many years and who is also a national tri-athlete, struck a deal. Basically, the agreement was that, if Julie failed to do the Ironman triathlon in held on the 5th of July within 10 hours and 42 minutes, she would run the next marathon dressed in a caterpillar costume. Akio died a day before the triathlon and, although she tried extremely hard to beat the time set, unfortunately her back went and she failed by one minute! Poor Julie is still out of action because of her back injury. So instead, we are doing the marathon wearing the caterpillar costume this year. Two of my friends (Pippa and Chris) who were also close to Akio, plus Adrian and Ian, Akio's favourite teachers from his school, have kindly agreed to join the team. We are all apprehensive about running the marathon with a heavy costume linking us together - not to mention the looks we are getting (including being chased by dogs) during training. However, we are totally committed to raising as much money as we can for GOSH. Our goal is to take forward Akio's positive mindset and spirit so that hopefully the loss of his life can help other children suffering with very serious illness.Please help us, dig deep and donate now. Thank you again for visiting this page and for supporting Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to GOSH charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
Akio was a witty, perceptive and compassionate young man with a very positive and determined mindset. Since his death, I have been trying to make sense out of both his life and death. I wanted to find something through which I could try to carry forward his spirit and which also would keep me going in my life without his presence. What came to my mind was to run the London marathon as a part of my fund-raising activities for GOSH. For us, GOSH was a second home and Akio was blessed with so much care and affection, much more than just medical expertise. We had many opportunities to discuss Akio's illness with the many medical staff involved in his care and to understand the importance of the research activities at the hospital and the ICH. Research plays a critical role in pioneering new treatments and benefits not only patients like Akio but also generations of children yet to be born in the world. As we all know, medical research is dependent on appropriate levels of funding being available and so I felt that any contribution I might be able to make by running the marathon would be worthwhile.
We will be running the marathon in a caterpillar costume. Running a marathon is hard enough but why are we dressing as a caterpillar? The story short: a few weeks prior to Akio’s death, Akio and Julie Payne, the mobility officer at GOSH who looked after Akio over so many years and who is also a national tri-athlete, struck a deal. Basically, the agreement was that, if Julie failed to do the Ironman triathlon in held on the 5th of July within 10 hours and 42 minutes, she would run the next marathon dressed in a caterpillar costume. Akio died a day before the triathlon and, although she tried extremely hard to beat the time set, unfortunately her back went and she failed by one minute! Poor Julie is still out of action because of her back injury. So instead, we are doing the marathon wearing the caterpillar costume this year. Two of my friends (Pippa and Chris) who were also close to Akio, plus Adrian and Ian, Akio's favourite teachers from his school, have kindly agreed to join the team. We are all apprehensive about running the marathon with a heavy costume linking us together - not to mention the looks we are getting (including being chased by dogs) during training. However, we are totally committed to raising as much money as we can for GOSH. Our goal is to take forward Akio's positive mindset and spirit so that hopefully the loss of his life can help other children suffering with very serious illness.Please help us, dig deep and donate now. Thank you again for visiting this page and for supporting Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to GOSH charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.