Cardiff Half - 1st October 2023

London Marathon - 21st April 2024

The Evelina London Children’s Hospital is one of only two specialist children's hospitals in London and provides pioneering care for over 120,000 children each year from across London, Kent, Surrey and Sussex. 

On Christmas Eve 2022, following weeks of chesty coughs and numerous visits to the GP and hospital our six-week-old son Oscar’s breathing deteriorated overnight and we rushed him into Kingston Hospital early on Christmas morning.

With a diagnosis of bronchiolitis, RSV, pneumonia and a partially collapsed lung, Oscar didn't stabilise or respond to treatment and was getting progressively worse rather than better.

We were told that Oscar was currently running a marathon. He was working really hard but was days away from the worst of his illness and that he would not be able to continue running this marathon alone.

Oscar required immediate intubation and was transfer to paediatric intensive care at the Evelina by the incredible South Thames paediatric critical care retrieval service (also based at the Evelina), which provides intensive care and transport by ambulance, helicopter or plane, 24/7/365, collecting critically ill children from as far as the south coast.

At the Evelina, Oscar received one-to-one care from specialist cardiac and respiratory nurses, around the clock. In addition to the medical care, we were provided for as a family, accommodation, initially within the hospital and then arranged through the Ronald McDonald House Charity, enabling us all to stay together in central London over Christmas week, for free.

Whilst this experience was unavoidably horrendous, the expertise, facilities and unbelievably skilled and compassionate staff, each going above and beyond, made the whole experience far less traumatic.

The care Oscar received saved his life and it brought our beautiful baby boy back to us.

Our experience has been a window into another world we were completely naive about. So many are not so fortunate. Our eyes were opened to just some of the issues facing the children and families confronting long-term illnesses and those that don't make it home. We had just a glimpse of what they will go through. 

The Evelina shares the same funding challenges as all NHS hospitals. However, its pioneering research and innovative approaches are enabled by private donations and fundraising which represents a significant contribution to its budget. 

On Sunday 1st October 2023 in recognition of the marathon Oscar inadvertently fought in order to overcome his illness I will be running my own.

I will also be running the London Marathon on Sunday 21st April 2024.

Through this page, I would like to show a token of our enormous appreciation for the hospital and the care it provided our baby over his first Christmas. Every pound raised will help Evelina London do incredible things for sick children, young people and their families.

We are eternally grateful for everyone at both hospitals who selflessly and without hesitation put our family before their own at Christmas and beyond 🥰