This year, I’m running the Brighton Marathon to raise money for the Children’s Surgical Centre (CSC) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia – a charity I volunteered at last summer for my medical elective.

Prior to 1975, Cambodia had around 530 doctors, thousands of healthcare students, and a functioning medical education system. By the time the Khmer Rouge genocide ended four years later, that system had been almost completely destroyed. Only 32 doctors were left alive, and when borders reopened, 20 of them fled the country. The genocide left a devastating legacy: a healthcare system stripped of trained professionals, destroyed educational infrastructure, and generations affected by disability and injury from war. Cambodia remains one of the most heavily landmined countries in the world, meaning preventable injuries and lifelong disabilities are still a daily reality, especially for children.

Today, many families live in poverty, access to healthcare is extremely limited, and paediatric surgical care is out of reach for most. With no free healthcare system in Cambodia, institutions like the Children’s Surgical Centre are a lifeline, and for many children, their only realistic opportunity to receive treatment.

CSC works with children whose lives have been shaped by circumstances far beyond their control. Many are born with or develop conditions that are completely treatable, yet without access to treatment, they face a lifetime of disability, pain, or exclusion from education and play. Having volunteered at CSC, I saw how even a single operation could completely change the course of a child’s life.

By running the Brighton Marathon, I hope to support a charity that provides free, high-quality surgical care and rehabilitation to children who would otherwise not have a chance.

Thank you so much for supporting me and, most importantly, helping to change lives of children in a country that is still finding itself after a truly devastating past.