Been putting this off for a while but here we go...

As many of you know, my older brother Chris Allinson passed away in his sleep on November 8th last year, aged 28. 

We lost Chris as a result of ‘SUDEP’ - Sudden Unexpected Death from Epilepsy. 

Sometimes a person with epilepsy dies during or following a seizure for no apparent reason. SUDEP is incredibly uncommon, in the UK over half a million people suffer from epilepsy, only 600 people die a year from SUDEP. 

Upon hearing the news of his passing, his consultant at the James Cook Hospital said “there was no reason that Chris couldn’t have lived til he was 90 years old”. Death from SUDEP is thought to be unavoidable.

In 2017, Chris ran the Great North Run for PTSD Resolution in memory of his then-boss’ son who had unfortunately passed away. 

Chris was a natural athlete and could turn his hand to almost any sport, a trait that made for some battles between the two of us over the years!

This year I have decided to run the Great North Run in his memory and raising money for Epilepsy Research UK.

I will be wearing the same shoes and shorts that he wore during the 2017 race. The  difference being I will definitely get over the line a little quicker than he did as I have half the amount of backside to carry around! The pink knee high socks won’t be making an appearance either 😬.

ERUK have set me a fundraising goal of £330 to run as a part of their team. I have set up a JustGiving page at the bottom of this post and my aim is to double that amount and raise £660. My hope is to help raise as much money as possible to support life changing research in the field of Epilepsy, so hopefully one day, others don’t have to go through what my family has been through these past few months.

Also, if you would like to track my training progress, follow me on Strava by searching “Dan Allinson”.

Thank you all for reading.

Love and miss you Snal. 💙💛