At the age of 66 Dave is running the Great North Run for the first time in his life to raise money for the charity which gave us so much support and hope when Thomas was born with a rare birth defect. TOFS provides support for those born unable to swallow, due to the rare congenital conditions Tracheo-Oesophageal Fistula (TOF) where the oesophagus and trachea are linked together and Oesophageal Atresia (OA) where the oesophagus has a dead end and doesn’t join the stomach. TOF/OA affects one in every 3,500 babies, and can only be repaired, not cured. We heard the devastating news that our precious newborn baby had TOF/OA shortly after his birth and the amazing team at the Newcastle RVI who operated on him at 12 hours old gave us a leaflet about TOFS, a charity formed by parents who had children with the same condition. Membership of TOFS was at times literally a lifeline; from that first bewildering moment of coming to terms with the news, TOFS provided us with ongoing information, support and reassurance through all the tough times of hospital admissions with pneumonia, weaning a baby prone to choking, starting school, surgery and more. Thomas is now a fit, healthy 28 year old, something we could never have imagined in those traumatic early years. We always said we would do something to pay back for all the help we received and so, finally after 28 years, we are doing it! Any donations small or large will be put to very good use by this wonderful charity which probably very few people have ever heard of but which does such great work to support parents and families of children with TOF/OA