Lydia has been our colleague at Bettaquip for over 10 years. She is married to Graeme and they have three young children Sam, Lucy and Katie. 

Sam is the eldest he is 10 years old and has been diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy (muscle wasting disease). The prognosis is that Sam will lose the ability to walk and is currently doing so. He will also lose strength in his arms and shoulders and his heart and lung capacity will deteriorate leading to a shortened life span. There is no cure.

Sam is a happy, kind loving boy who enjoys playing with his friends, xbox, swimming and karate. He is also a big Aston Villa fan but we won't hold that against him!

Twelve months ago I was a spectator at the Triathlon event at Trentham Gardens in Stoke On Trent and embarrassed by my total lack of fitness I was inspired to sign up for the 2017 event which is a 750m open water swim, 20k cycle, and 5k run.

At the time I could barely swim a length of front crawl, my bike had rusted away in the shed and I pulled up breathless after 200 metres on my first running attempt.

Training through the winter was a real slog and if it wasn't for the motivation of Sam's cause there were numerous occasions when I would have thrown the towel in.

After 50 weeks of training there is now less than 1 week to go and  I am still not sure how I will do. Hopefully the adrenaline on the day and all the support I have been given will get me over the line.

The generosity of donors has been fantastic and the £1000 target has been smashed. A big big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read the story and contribute. If you want to donate it is not too late to do so.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving pageDonating 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 the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.