Thank you for taking a moment to visit my JustGiving page.  

I have decided to take on this challenge after the toughest 3 years of my life.  I will be attempting to cover 100km over two days in the South Downs this coming September, in aid of Crohn's & Colitis UK.

Despite struggling with an epilepsy diagnosis for over a decade, being diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis hit me a lot harder, if only because my health went massively downhill over a short period of time.

I was losing blood from places that you really don't want to lose blood from, sometimes upto 40 times a day.  I missed work, was on SSP for months on end, had to resign from my dream job of over 12 years, and had to miss out on activities with my young daughters due to the fatigue and ill health.

After initial treatments were tried and, despite helping briefly, subsequently failed, I was left with surgery as my only option.  I underwent a subtotal colectomy to remove the majority of my large intestine in order to keep me alive.  This led to a 35 day stay in hospital.  I am currently  9 months post-surgery and eternally grateful for the help and care I have recieved along the way.

I'm still receiving care and will likely face further surgery but, I am alive and able to live a semi-normal life at the moment, which is all I could have hoped for only 12 months ago when I was close to death, had it not been for emergency medical intervention.

Any donation, however small, would be massively appreciated.  I am putting huge faith and trust in myself and I thank you in advance for doing the same.

Love and thanks,

Mark

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