Why I'm running for Ronald McDonald House UK

In July 2025, our daughter was born via emergency C-section at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough after we noticed reduced movement that morning. She was diagnosed with severe HIE (Hypoxic-Ischaemic Encephalopathy) — a lack of oxygen and blood flow to the brain around birth — and the team at John Radcliffe Hospital were called in to help. Our daughter spent time in the neonatal high dependency unit undergoing cooling therapy, surrounded by more tubes and wires than I can describe.

We were told the extent of the damage was unknown, and that she might have cerebral palsy, be blind, be deaf, or even need help just to breathe. It's the kind of news that stops your world completely.

We had a two-year-old son to look after too, and we lived over an hour from the hospital. The neonatal nurses referred us to Ronald McDonald House, and we were offered a beautiful room where my wife, our son and I could stay together, minutes from our daughter's bedside.

That house was a genuine home from home during the worst weeks of our lives. We met other families going through equally heartbreaking journeys — children facing multiple surgeries, long recoveries, uncertain outcomes. Every single one of us said the same thing: having somewhere safe, peaceful and close by to rest and recharge made an unbearable time bearable.

I'm incredibly happy and proud to say our daughter has made a full recovery. She is smashing every milestone, and you would never know what she went through in those first few weeks of life.

We are so grateful for the support we received, and running the London Marathon in 2027 is my way of paying that back — and paying it forward for the families who'll need that same lifeline next.

Please, if you can, donate whatever you're able to. It genuinely doesn't matter if it's £2 or £200 — every single donation adds up and gets us closer to helping another family have what we had. If you can't donate, a share or a message of support means just as much. Thank you for reading our story and for being part of this with us.