I'm raising money for a cause that has personally affected my family in very recent times.

At the end of January 2020 my world was turned upside down when my ice hockey playing, crazy cookie of a daughter, Natalie, had a stroke. It sounds silly now, but I didn't realise that children could have strokes. She was 8 and just collapsed having lost all movement on her left side. After a couple of days on HDU she was moved to a children's ward where she stayed for 3 weeks. 

Natalie has had to learn to walk and move her arm/hand again and learn how to write with her right hand. It's hard work but she has made, and continues to make, good progress. We don't know if she'll get all the movement back we just have to keep on with the physio and occupational therapy to maximise our chances. It's tough at times when she see her sister and friends playing and she has to do exercises instead. 

Ultimately, when I look back on the last 15 months, I think we were quite lucky. Lucky to have so much support from family and friends. Lucky that we were still able to get face to face physio and OT  throughout the lockdowns. Lucky that it happened when it did - Covid was starting to hit the UK just as we were coming out of hospital and I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for people who've had loved ones in hospital in the last year.

When I saw the opportunity to run the Bath Half for Stroke Association I thought it would be a good way to raise awareness and funding. For those for you who know me, walking is more my thing so this is pretty far outside my comfort zone. It's not going to be easy as I'm prone to shin splints but I'll be giving it my best.

There are over 1.2 million stroke survivors in the UK, with 100,000 strokes happening in the UK each year. That's one stroke every five minutes. Stroke Association believes everyone deserves to live the best life they can after stroke. Your support will help them to provide vital services, campaign for better stroke care and fund research into preventative and rehabilitative treatments. I understand in the current circumstances things are difficult and any donations are greatly appreciated- thank you!

Due to the Bath Half being postponed multiple times I swapped to the Cardiff Half and successfully completed it.

Thanks to everyone who has support and/or donated.