Here we go again 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️

Cats out the bag, I am running Berlin Marathon in September for Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

Unfortunately, Jas, Esmae & Evie will not be able to come to Berlin with me due to Evie’s ongoing medical needs but truthfully that will just drive me to give it my all. Just like Evie does every single day.

Training is now a few weeks in and so far I am feeling great, a lot stronger than my last marathon effort and all round in a better place and ready for the challenge.

So, Why Birmingham Childrens Hospital?

For those who don’t know my Evie, she is the happiest & strongest 3 year old I have ever known. She has been tested every single day of her life and continues to thrive.

She constantly inspires me to take positives out of every situation, just like she does.

Evie’s journey started when she was just 36 hours old when at home she suddenly stopped breathing and suffered a cardiac arrest.

I immediately jumped on her and began CPR. Emergency services flocked from all over, managed to stabilise her and transport her to Worcester Royal Hospital. She was then subsequently taken by a specialist Intensive Care Ambulance to Birmingham Childrens Hospital where the intensive care team worked extremely hard to save her.

Day 2 arrived and Jas and I are sat down. We are told to expect the worst, say our goodbyes and that Evie needs emergency surgery in a desperate attempt to save her life. Evie had Sepsis as well as a bowel issue and she needs a section of bowel removing and an opening placed into her tummy.

As horrified as we were, we said our goodbyes and said our prayers. I remember spending hours in the hospital church crying and praying.

A few hours later after surgery she came back to us. We watched and waited for weeks and weeks as she slowly began to get stronger and defy all the odds.

6 months and over 15 operations later along with multiple bouts of sepsis, Evie was finally strong enough to come home.

Throughout her journey, every single team played their part in saving Evie and helping ensure she has a future. We cannot thank them enough and to this day most of them are still heavily involved in her care.

At home, Evie requires Parental Nutrition infusions several times a week. (Think of this like a bag of fluid that gets pumped directly into a long term catheter that goes directly into Evie’s heart).

This is something extremely few patients have at home (less than 30 of the 100,000 patients BCH see each year) therefore Jas and I needed specialist and extensive training.

BCH continue to be there for us night and day, just like they are for the other 100,000 patients and their families every single year.

To date, Evie has had over 20 operations, multiple blood transfusions, has had Sepsis three times and even managed to get gall stones! She continues to defy the odds every day and push the boundaries of whats is possible.

At Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, we believe there’s always more we can do for our sick kids and that’s why we will always strive to do more for our patients and families.

It is our mission to raise the vital funds needed to make a real difference to all who use our hospital and your support empowers us to take innovative approaches to treating some of the sickest children in the UK.

Fundraising enables us to make our hospital feel just like home and your donations are helping us to find new ways to treat and cure childhood diseases.

Will you help me to help BCH push the boundaries for more poorly children and their families?