Hello everyone,

To those of you who don't know me, my name is Joe and I am an 18 year old student from Brackley in Northamptonshire.

Those of you who are close to me will know that my younger brother ben has been suffering from long covid since 2021 and that not only him but many others that are suffering from this awful condition have had their lives completely turned upside down. In the case of Ben, what we originally thought would just be cold symptoms for a couple of weeks turned into hundreds of both physical and online appointments, numerous tests and scans as well as plenty of other medical visits, emails and calls to help better understand my brothers condition and how to treat it. He suffers from a long and extensive list of symptoms which affect his day to day life in a number of ways and unfortunately these are unpredictable and largely are difficult to manage for both Ben and my family. He has been on a reduced timetable over his last few years at school and is now sitting his GCSE exams, which I am immensely proud of him for this as are the rest of my family.

Watching my brother be robbed of his teenage years by such a terrible condition has been heart breaking, watching him go from a kid out on his bike all of the time, playing rugby and going out with his friends to struggling with day to day activities, some as simple as getting up and down the stairs has been immensely difficult to see. His social life has also taken a huge hit due to his long covid, since he is unable to often go out with friends as this could potentially see him bedridden for days and has previously occurred weeks. This has meant that the majority of time with his best friend must be spent during a holiday to ensure that he is well enough to remain in education. Many parents, other children and simply other members of the public have called his condition fake, downplayed it and in certain cases said that Ben is just being lazy which is simply unbelievable and disgusting and to those who do feel this way I wish that you could see just a week of Ben's day to day life. I must take a moment here to thank those who have supported and been most helpful with him, as some days this support is all that he has to take positives from.

I personally feel incredibly strongly about this condition, and I send my love and support to those suffering from it and their families. This all leads into the main point of me putting this all together... In June 2025, me and my close friend Zak will be running 100 kilometres each (about 62 miles) to raise awareness for long covid, as well as money for a charity called Long Covid Kids. This charity provides support for those living with long covid, such as my brother, and aims to give them the best possible chance of a future as they can. Zak has been a supporting factor for Ben ever since he originally caught covid, having been on numerous holidays, coming to visit Ben as well as regularly socialising with him online.

Please help support children like my brother and families like my own who also have to deal with this horrible condition. Any donations would be so greatly appreciated! And wish us luck too!