This November, I will be running the Boston Half Marathon to raise money for Chain of Hope, a charity founded by Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub. The organisation provides life-saving heart surgery and care for children from developing countries with critical heart conditions, children who would otherwise never receive the treatment they need.

Children in Gaza are among the most vulnerable in the world. Born with life-threatening heart conditions, many have no access to the specialised cardiac care they desperately need. The collapse of the healthcare infrastructure in Gaza means that without urgent evacuation and treatment abroad, these children face the reality of dying before their first birthday, or growing up severely ill and unable to thrive.

Chain of Hope is working urgently to change this. Through its International Child Referral Programme, the charity has been evacuating babies and young children from Gaza to hospitals in Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and beyond. The impact goes beyond each child. Every time a baby is saved, their family is given hope, their community sees resilience, and their future is strengthened one heart at a time.

Behind every statistic is a child’s face, a family’s story, and the extraordinary dedication of surgeons, nurses, and volunteers who make these journeys possible. Providing cardiac surgery to children from the region is not only about healing hearts, it is about restoring dignity, hope, and the chance of a future in one of the most difficult places to grow up.

"I feel privileged to be a link in the chain that helps these children" Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub, President and Founder Chain of Hope.