I often think about Madison , particularly when I am doing one of these challenges, I never forgot when I saw her bracelet with all the beads on, the sheer number of them, and what each one meant, some were the sort of operations most people would be worrying about for weeks.

Madison had hundreds of them! It was so humbling, if such an innocent, tiny bundle of joy can endure so much with such grace it shines a light for us all and shows us what true grit, endurance and not giving up is all about.

I am not Marathon fit, I know some of you might find that hard to believe, giving the amount of running I do, but I haven’t run over 11 miles this year, so when it gets tough I will think about Madison and even if it means crawling over on my hands and knees I will finish;
(hopefully before the 6 hour wagon comes around!) because for me it doesn’t hurt once in a while to do something hard and not quit when it gets a bit tough. As there are people who were dealt a bad hand who are doing that every day, perhaps just in a different way.

Beads of Courage offers support and restores a child's sense of self when coping with the fear of a serious illness. Each bead represents a specific treatment such as blood transfusion, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and overnight stay in hospital to display and acknowledge their courageous journey.

I choose Beads of Courage as I think if this had happened to me as a kid I would have liked this, helping me to be brave when having to endure all the medical procedures that need to be done.

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