This April, I will be running my first ever event...the London Landmarks Half Marathon to raise money for King's College Hospital Charity.

As some of you may know, since 2023 my Dad has been receiving treatment for Multiple Myeloma, a rare form of blood cancer, and Amyloidosis, a disease where proteins in the body attack your organs.

In March 2023, a few days after returning to work from a hand operation, my Dad went to the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH). He had been struggling to breathe at work and could not walk further than a few metres before feeling breathless. We expected him to be home the same day, having been told he was suffering with long Covid, a chest infection or some other short-term issue.

My Dad would not leave the hospital again for 13 weeks. During that time, my Dad was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer; began chemotherapy; treated in intensive care after a reaction to chemo; learned to walk properly again; developed frozen shoulder; and tried the hospital food selection from A-Z. Summer 2023 will not go down as one of his best. And yet, it could have been so much worse were it not for the amazing care he received at the PRUH.

Since then, my Dad visits the hospital on a nearly weekly basis, whether it is for a meeting with the oncologist, cardiologist, gastrologist, haematologist, orthopaedist...you get the picture. If it ends in 'ist' and works at the PRUH, my Dad probably had a meeting with them. And whilst there is no cure available yet for my Dad, the work of all these brilliant medics is keeping him with us for as long as possible.

Some of his visits have been longer than others, his most recent being a two-week retreat in early December 2025. For someone who says he does not like going to the hospital, he seems to extend his stay bit too often. He even took his hobby internationally, when in October 2024, he decided to extend his holiday in Spain with a 7-day trip to a hospital in Madrid.

We suspect one reason for his frequent visits is the amazing relationship my Dad has with the nurses on the cardiology ward. He knows all of their names, and they his, and they get along so well that the emergency assistance button next to my Dad's bed became an emergency tea button. Usually at 3am when he could not sleep. My Dad may not like staying at hospital, but it does have its perks (my Mum does *not* provide on-demand tea service).

The PRUH is part of the King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, the hospital trust the charity supports. I would like to raise some money to say thank you for the amazing care my Dad has received and make a small positive impact on the staff and patients at the hospital. Quite simply, without their care, he would not be here.

I am so grateful for any donations received. You can see the great work the charity does to improve the lives of the staff and patients at the hospital here.