I’m running the Royal Parks Half 2026 to raise vital funds for #TeamWarChild

Running has saved me. Twice.

In 2021, when I was suffering from severe anxiety and depression, I trained for and ran the London Marathon. Those long training runs helped give me respite from the intrusive thoughts causing my anxiety, and the headspace to work through some of those issues. Completing the marathon itself gave me a massive sense of achievement at a time when my self-esteem was extremely low.

Then in 2023, I was diagnosed with Stage 4 non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, which had metastasised to form tumours on my spine that fractured and partially destroyed two of my vertebrae. The doctors told me the strength which running gave me had probably helped me avoid paralysis and would continue to help me during treatment and recovery, but the damage was sufficiently bad that I would need to permanently wear a back brace and probably not be able to run again.

Ten rounds of radiotherapy, eighteen weeks of chemotherapy, and multiple sessions with physios and orthopaedic doctors later, I was both in remission and, miraculously, able to wean myself out of the back brace and get back to running.

It took me six months to build up to fully running a Parkrun, and a further fourteen months to be able to jeff my way around a half-marathon.

But now I’m basically able to run normally again (albeit rather more slowly), I want to use that gift to help save other people.

That’s why I’m running the Royal Parks Half Marathon on October 11th for War Child, a charity that protects, educates, and stands up for the rights of children living through conflict; for example, they work in current war zones such as Gaza, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Sudan. War Child work in partnership with local organisations, providing emergency support such as food, clean water, hygiene kits, clothing, and blankets when conflict breaks out, and staying as long as needed to help children and families recover and rebuild their lives.