I may be crazy but I’m taking a step – or rather many steps – into the unknown.

On October 11th, I will run a half marathon to raise £10,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital, a place that changed my son’s life.

For those of you reading this and who know Jonah, you understand the absolute life force he brings to everyone he meets. He is pure joy and carries immense wisdom. He has touched countless people around the world with his open heart and eclectic style.

The day I run the half marathon will be exactly six years since I found out that my pregnancy was not normal. The child I was carrying had a spontaneous gene mutation and that gene meant that he would live with Osteogenesis Imperfecta. The fantasy of the life I thought my first born child was going to have abruptly ended. The news rocked my world. For any parent expecting a baby, even a whiff that something isn’t right is earth shattering. I went home that day feeling like my life no longer made sense.

Osteogenesis Imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease, takes many forms. We learned early on that Jonah was diagnosed with the most severe type. It was expected that he would never walk and would live with constant fractures and casts. Termination was offered repeatedly but it was never an option. From the moment I found out about his diagnosis I did everything in my power to heal and protect his beautiful, delicate bones.

There were many angels along the way leading up to his birth, including the team at Great Ormond Street, who took us under their wing and reassured us that this was a path many families had walked before. Jonah was born and was in ICU for the first three days of his life. I could only hold his little finger and stroke his forehead. When we finally were able to pick him up we had to carry him on a soft sponge pad in order not to hurt him.

The first few months of his life were tough. He suffered five major fractures including breaking his femur twice. Covid closed down the world when he was only two months old. One of our only social environments was the hospital stays at GOSH every six weeks. When Jonah was one year old he was selected to participate in a life-changing stem cell trial for OI. This changed his future by truly strengthening his bone density. Since he had this stem cell trial, he’s never broken a bone. Fingers crossed.

We have spent a lot of time in Great Ormond Street over the past six years and I have seen first hand the life changing care that is delivered. It is my wish that every single child that is born with OI has access to the kinds of treatment that Jonah did. That’s why my fundraising goal is high. I believe that this is the single most important thing I have ever raised money for.

Every child deserves a change to run and ride a bike and to live a life free of hospital visits and full body casts. Please support me as I in turn put my body through something unimaginable to raise money for a better future for kids. Jonah told me this morning he’s going to come and run beside me for part of it. I hope you’ll help me on this journey together with him.