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In October last year we said goodbye to our daughter, Ellissa. She was only seven years old.

Ellissa brought so much joy and so many smiles to our family. She was full of life, our little ray of sunshine. Ellissa’s condition, FoxG1, meant that she could not walk or speak and that she could not fully see but our beautiful little girl was such a brave fighter. We are so proud of her for everything she did. Even though she couldn’t talk she still communicated in her own way and was very cheeky. She made such a huge impact on everyone she knew and taught us all so much.

In her memory, myself and a group of friends will run 100km (62 miles) – from Harrogate to Derian House Children’s Hospice - in one day (Saturday 27 May). It’s going to be extremely tough, but we want to raise as much as possible for Derian House, the children’s hospice that has been so important to our family.

We have chosen Derian House as our charity as it is a place where we made happy memories with Ellissa – splashing in the hydrotherapy pool, playing in the gardens, watching films in the cinema and also for all of the other help they gave us during Ellissa’s life. When Ellissa passed away she spent time in one of the hospice’s cold rooms. It meant that we could still visit her and spend a final few moments with her. That was incredibly important to us as a family, as it meant we got to spend that extra little bit of time with her. The hospice has always been there for us when we needed it, and even now we’re still helped by them with counselling sessions and support.

The 100km challenge is going to be extremely difficult for us. Some of us have done marathons before but this is on another level. We’re all looking forward to it and we are excited to put ourselves to the test. We’ve been training since November and the training has been a big commitment for us all but it’s all going to be worth it. We’ll set off from Harrogate, crossing over the Yorkshire moors and into Lancashire and ending at Derian’s House Childrens Hospice in Chorley, the place that holds so many memories and has done so much for our family.

Please donate and help us to raise vital funding for this amazing children’s hospice.

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