I'm (finally) running London Marathon 2025... after 3 years of deferred entry, but with a whole new purpose.

I am joining Team RAFA to raise money for the Royal Air Force Association - to say thank you for the support and care they provided in our time of need with Flynn.

The last 15 months of my life have been by far the hardest, many days I would consider the worst of my life.

We went into our 20 week scan in May 23 for Flynn naive to the future and its challenges ahead. Being informed that something isn't quite looking right, leading to travelling to specialist hospitals for referrals, tests, scans (many many scans), painful procedures, MRI's (the list really goes on) and thrown into conversations we've never imagined we'd have. Forced to make difficult choices, navigate the ugly feelings while still trying to be present for our older son, Lando, each other and work full time.

By 33 weeks pregnant we were aware Flynn would need to be delivered at Leicester Royal Infirmary, need a NICU Cot, and life saving surgery asap after birth. He was diagnosed with Tracheoesophageal fistula - Oesophageal atresia (TOF OA), Right aortic arch and a multicystic dysplastic kidney, with no clear explanation as to why or how this had happened in my pregnancy.

Flynn arrived into this world by emergency c-section on 20th September 2023 and spent 5 and half weeks in the NICU at Leicester, having surgery at less than 48 hours old, a readmission to hospital after only 7 days at home, and endless medical appointments ... I still don't know how to describe or explain this period of our lives other than we survived because we had no choice. As a parent you would move heaven and earth for your children.

Amongst the chaos we were thrown into we contacted RAFA unsure of what help we could access but their support has been life changing. They ensured we would be close to Flynn if the hospital could no longer accommodate us, Lando would be cared for, even offering an additional day in nursery funded. They reached out to charities on our behalf, securing much needed funding so we could eat, pay for hospital parking, drive the countless miles from Lincoln to LRI because leaving Flynn to go to work was not an option. The Welfare team continually checked in on our family by phones and email, reminding us they were always ready to help. We simply couldn't have muddled our way through this time without them, alongside our families & friends.

Running LM has always been a goal for me, but now it has an entirely different purpose - it's more than just a time. This is an opportunity for me to say thank you, regain more control over my life and continue the healing from a traumatic time. Flynn is our four leaf clover, defying every odd to be with us and thriving.

The past year has left me with both physical and mental scars and running gives me a little freedom from the noise inside my own mind, and allows me to trust my body a little more each time.

By no means are we done with medical visits for Flynn, but boy has the kid been amazing. And we able to truely understand what is important in life 💛

So my ask is this, if you can donate to enable RAFA to continue to support families like mine please do, or simply raise awareness by sharing our story - RAFA are there to help military families even if you don't feel you deserve it.

And please to anyone else struggling right now because life is heavy, you are deserving of support - so please reach out, talk to family & friends because they all care deeply for you 💛

For further details on Flynn's conditions;

https://tofs.org.uk/oa-tof-information/parents/

https://www.tinytickers.org/support-info/what-is-chd/right-aortic-arch/