On a normal day in February my Dad, Jon Graves, went out to work as he has done most days since I was about 4 years old, running his fencing contracting business. He had finished his job for the day and was checking things over, and took the very ordinary decision to clamber over a 3' post and rail fence to take a shortcut. His foot slipped as he climbed over and he fell the very short distance to the ground, but fell in just the worst way. His neck broke and he lay, conscious but unable to move to reach the phone in his pocket, for perhaps 20 minutes, before he was found. 

Since that day, Dad has been recovering in hospital, and is now at the world-renowned Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville, undertaking intense rehabilitation. We can't yet know what his long term prognosis is but he has recovered some movement in his hands and is learning all over again to manage the daily activities we all take for granted - initially even something like rubbing an itch on his face, then trickier tasks like holding a cup or a fork, or brushing his teeth. I've seen him conquer all these battles and now he's progressed to building back strength to use a manual wheelchair. His legs have regained a bit of muscle-movement, and we're hopeful that with continued treatment, he will keep improving, but he will need a totally new life when he's able to leave hospital, and this is going to cost money! 

Among the necessities will be installing access ramps and widening doors in the house, building an accessible bathroom, buying an off-road wheelchair so he can still enjoy the outdoors that he loves so much, and buying a car that he can either drive or at least get in and out of (the government's disability grant for mobility costs is - incredibly - not available to people over pensionable age). 

I'm running the marathon for Aspire to help people with spinal injuries, but the charity has really generously said that after I've met their fundraising target (£2000), anything else I raise can be just for Dad. I don't yet know exactly what he will need, but I do know that we will need help to get it all for him. 

This will be my first marathon and I'm aiming to run it in sub-4 hours...but running 26 miles is really just my way to support the true marathon challenge - the one being tackled by Dad. We will be so grateful for whatever you can donate to help him!  

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 the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.