Georgia

I’m running the Birmingham half marathon to raise money for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, a place that provided me with incredible care during a very challenging time. Over summer, I spent four weeks as an inpatient there. I was admitted after I started to experience severe pain and lose movement in my right wrist, hip and knee. During my first two weeks at the QE, doctors ran every test under the sun to figure out what was wrong with me. Eventually, they managed to diagnose septic arthritis. Once they had made the diagnosis they performed a surgical wash out and I had the best aftercare from all of the staff there (doctors, nurses, physio and more). Their dedication, compassion and expertise made all the difference to me during a very scary time and I want to give back to help support their ongoing work. Any donation, big or small, would mean a lot to me. Thank you for supporting this cause that is close to my heart!

Sophie

I’m running the Birmingham half marathon to raise money for the QE, a place which in the last year or so has looked after my late grandmother, my dad, my partner’s dad, and my sister Georgia - not to mention millions of other people I’m not related to! I am very much not a natural runner, and signing up to a half marathon the day after finishing Couch to 5k (and having never run more than 5k in my life) might well be hubris, but I felt that if Georgia can do it after having to learn to walk again, then I can do it too! Every time I run, I think about how lucky I am to have the choice to do it even when I’m not loving it, when some of my loved ones didn’t, and in some cases still don’t, have the privilege of being in a healthy body and the freedom to choose to what to do with it. I’m very grateful to the QE for supporting them through the tough times and the end times, and proud to raise money for the charity. Thank you so much for supporting us!