Write your story here - why are you walking Side by Side? what does this mean for you?

We are “The Greenies”, six friends from Birmingham. We have enjoyed many adventures together over the years and hope to have many more in the future! We have supported each other through many life events, and when one of us was unable to attend a “Gin Journey” in Liverpool in January 2022 because she was in hospital having emergency treatment for TTP, the other five managed to drink her share of the gin. True friendship!

This year we will complete a half marathon together to raise money for the TTP network. We will walk 13.1 miles from Wolverhampton to Birmingham along the canal network.

We are doing this to:

- raise money to support the TTP network continue to meet its aims

- raise awareness of what TTP is and that with good and timely treatment you can live a full and active life with TTP

- remind those who can to donate blood or plasma regularly.

Please help us if you can. We know there are lots of demands on everyone’s finances, but it would really add up if lots of people gave a little!

If you don’t feel you can give money, can you explore giving blood or plasma? It took donated plasma from 134 kind strangers to help save our friend!

Finally, please look at the TTP network website. Educate yourself about this rare disease. Our friend was proactive in asking her GP about her symptoms. The GP correctly sent her for an urgent blood test at the local hospital. That hospital happened to be one of only eleven hospitals in England that is a specialist centre for identifying and treating TTP. She really was one of the lucky ones and has had excellent outcomes. We want such outcomes to become the norm, and so raising awareness among the public and primary healthcare providers is really an important reason for us taking on this challenge.

Thanks for reading this far, and if you feel you can donate, please click the link!