You may or may not know that we (along with our good friends the Duddings) are running the New York Marathon on Sunday 3rd November 2019. This started out very much as a personal challenge but along the way we have been inspired by the efforts of a man called Gary Toner; a colleague of Theo’s and physio for the Canterbury HC 1st XI in Michael’s playing days.

Gary has three daughters and his youngest, twins Esme & Evie, were born via emergency C-section. Evie was delivered second and immediately required urgent medical attention. Over the following 36 hours Evie’s health continued to deteriorate and an MRI identified that she had suffered a rare, extensive stroke, around the time of birth that affected both sides of her brain.

In the following months Evie’s diagnosis became clearer and she was eventually diagnosed with evolving four-limb cerebral palsy. Further investigations revealed that Evie’s optic nerve was not functioning and Evie has since been registered blind and she has also been diagnosed with epilepsy. Evie will never be able to sit independently, crawl or walk and will require full care and assistance throughout her life.

Due to Evie’s care needs and constant attendance of medical and therapy appointments Gary’s wife, Lucy, has been unable to return to work. In order to provide Evie with specialist physiotherapy, appropriate sensory equipment, aquatic therapy and opportunities to enjoy and improve her quality of life, Gary recently took on his own fundraising challenge and ran the 45 mile route the ambulance took to save Evie’s life immediately following her birth.

Having been inspired by Gary’s efforts throughout our training we would really appreciate a small donation to his cause that will help spur us along on the day.

The Farrers