In December 2024, whilst in my third year at University, my life took an unexpected change when I was rushed into hospital with pneumonia and sepsis. I had emergency surgery and spent 30 days in hospital - 10 of which were in the intensive care unit (ICU) – and was twice placed in an induced coma on a ventilator.

You can have a hundred problems in this world until one of them is your health, when you realise that little else matters. When I left hospital in January 2025, I could barely walk to the end of my road, and now I’m able to run a half-marathon. I am so grateful to have recovered as quickly as I did and to see what my body is capable of. Running, to me, has now become a way to fully take advantage of my health.

Recovering from being in the ICU can be very difficult; patients often suffer with PTSD and struggle to go back to their normal lives. ICUsteps is a charity run by former intensive care patients and relatives who provide support for patients recovering from critical illness.

I feel very lucky to have fully recovered from my illness, managing to catch up on my studies, complete the university year, and graduate in December. Running has been a big part of my recovery – both mentally and physically – and running this half marathon feels like a privilege and will be a testament to show how far I’ve come. I’m so happy to be running this event with my mum and sister along side me, just as they were every day I was in hospital.