Myself, Mary and Emma are crazy enough to take part in the London to Cambridge 100k walk this summer to raise money for the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation in memory of the beautiful, loving and courageous Mollie Barton who sadly passed away at a young age of 20, whilst on the waiting list for a liver transplant.

Mollie was born with the unique and rare genetic disorder Alagilles syndrome which affected her liver, heart and kidneys. After a tough time in her early years, Mols lived a relatively normal childhood, supported by medication throughout. However, over the Christmas period in 2014, Mollie's liver started to fail and she was put on the waiting list for a liver transplant in February 2015 – a heartbreakingly quick decline. 

A few weeks later due to complications, which included Pneumonia and Sepsis, she was removed from the transplant list - always with the hope that she would eventually be put back on it. Sadly for Mollie this wasn't the case, and she earned her angel wings on the 29th of April 2015.

The money raised will be going to a charity that is close to all of our hearts and will help to allow them to continue with the amazing work they are already doing! The foundation raises funds for research into childhood liver disease and provides family support to those affected including arranging meet ups and days out for children affected by liver disease. 

So in July 2016, the three of us are going to rise to the challenge and take part in the London to Cambridge walk… Yes i know what you’re thinking ‘bloody crazy that’s for sure’ but we’ll have Mollie in thought the whole time which will power us through from beginning to end. Mollie was one tough cookie let us tell you that! Her sheer strength and determination during the painful battle of her last few months has given us the inspiration to rise to the challenge. The training on weekends have already begun with long walks on Saturday mornings powering through ready to take on the 100km in July.

Our fundraising goal is £1,200 but fingers crossed we can smash that and raise even more money. However big or small the donation it means a lot to us all. 

Lots of Love and B+ always  <3

“Don’t think of organ donation as giving up part of yourself to keep a total stranger alive. It’s really a total stranger giving up almost all of themselves to keep part of you alive”

Mollie received over 20 blood transfusions in her last tricky battle for life, you never know when you might need one – so if you’d be prepared to receive, please be prepared to give. 

To read about Mollie’s journey, please read this inspiring blog written by Lauren, Mollies older sister - www.bartonsblog35.wordpress.com