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I am running London marathon for Societi, the UK Kawasaki Foundation.

You may not have heard of Kawasaki Disease. Nor had I until I met Lucy in 2017. Her son, Stanley, suddenly got very very sick. Unfortunately due to Kawasaki Disease not being very well known he was misdiagnosed and Stanley underwent an incredibly traumatic time in hospital in London. It was revealed he had two giant aneurysms and was moments from having a heart attack because the clot occurs inside the aneurysm due to blood getting stuck and it can’t flow through the arteries.

Kawasaki disease is the leading cause of acquired heart disease in the UK. It is a horrible insidious disease that disguises itself like many other childhood diseases however, if left untreated or misdiagnosed can cause lifelong and permanent damage to a child’s heart and this is what happened to Stanley.

I met Lucy at the London Marathon in 2017 through a mutual friend and learnt about the work she was doing to raise awareness of Kawasaki Disease through a campaign she had created called the “Kawasaki Kid” - a cartoon character based on her son. This little character captured the hearts of the community and raised vital awareness far and wide and even led to the early diagnosis of other children. We have kept in touch over the years and although I have a place at London this year I wanted to help this fantastic cause. Kawasaki Disease is not well known and awareness and funds is vital to save children from permanent heart damage, traumatic and painful daily and lifelong treatment. It is more common than some types of meningitis.

Stanley lives with two aneurysms on his coronary artery and has endured daily injections, medication and frequent hospital visits, this could have been prevented.

Kawasaki Disease has a range of symptoms including a characteristic and distinctively persistent high fever for five days or more, rash, bloodshot eyes, “strawberry” tongue, cracked, dry lips, redness of the fingers and toes and swollen glands in the neck. Kawasaki Disease can be present with some or all of these symptoms and symptoms often appear in series (i.e. not all at once).

Please help me to help raise funds and awareness for this amazing charity ♥️

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