Raising Funds for Wellbeing of Women - Beachy Head 10K | Half | Marathon | Ultra

On Saturday 25th October 2025, our family will be taking on the challenge of the Beachy Head Marathon in Sussex to raise money for 'Wellbeing of Women', an incredible charity working hard to ensure that women’s lives are not limited by gynaecological and reproductive health issues.

This charity funds world-class research, education, and awareness campaigns, tackling taboos and influencing health policy across all stages of a woman’s life, from periods, pregnancy, and childbirth complications, to gynaecological cancers and menopause.

We are collectively aiming to complete 62K as a family:

🏃‍♀️ I will be running the first 10K – my furthest distance yet since undergoing major abdominal surgery.

🏃‍♂️ My brother Andrew will be going in for the full marathon distance – his first ever!

💗 Our mum, who had started to train hard & planned to run alongside us, will now be cheering us on from the sidelines, due to her own recent health challenges.

This fundraising event is in memory of Dr. Stephen Quinn, who was a highly regarded consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at St Mary’s Hospital, London, and Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at Imperial College London. He was deeply dedicated to improving women’s health, leading pioneering research into conditions such as uterine fibroids, adenomyosis, and recurrent miscarriage.

In March 2021, during the pandemic, I became very unwell and after alarming test results, I was rushed into the Rapid Gynae Access Clinic. Dr. Stephen Quinn performed life-changing major abdominal surgery to remove a melon-sized tumour from my lower abdomen and despite complications, including significant blood loss and emergency interventions, I was incredibly lucky to be left with the precious organ to house and grow a baby.

Eighteen months later, I was once again under Dr. Quinn’s care and expertise in the Gold Antenatal Clinic, this time for a high-risk pregnancy. Over the course of those eight months, Dr. Quinn cared not only for me, but also for my partner and our whole family - offering reassurance, compassion, and unwavering support through our journey. Our baby, Ezra, was due to be delivered surgically by Dr. Quinn in May 2023. Very sadly, just days before our scheduled cesarean, he passed away suddenly and tragically at the age of 46.

Though he never got to meet Ezra earth side, his care, compassion, and surgical expertise made Ezra’s life possible. Dr. Stephen Quinn wasn’t just a brilliant doctor, he was a hero to countless women and families. His wife & the charity have asked me to share our story in the hope that we can continue to improve the future of women's health and continue his legacy.

Thanks to Dr. Quinn and the research supported by the Wellbeing of Women, I received life-changing surgery and access to follow up care at the right time. I still suffer with iron-deficiency anaemia and require ongoing treatment and frequent scans to manage living with a chronic Gynaecological health condition, but I have been recently recharged after an admission for an infusion and am ready to give this my best shot!

This charity is incredibly close to our hearts. With your help, we can ensure that Dr. Stephen Quinn’s legacy continues through research, education, and training of future gynaecologists and scientists.

If you would like to make a difference please kindly consider, either donating to the 'Wellbeing of Women' in Dr. Stephen Quinn’s memory (no amount is too small!) or by donating blood to the NHS - A direct way to save lives.

Our goal is to honour Dr. Quinn’s legacy and help give more women the chance to live healthy, pain-free lives and where possible, to experience the precious gift that is motherhood. All the funding raised brings us closer to a world where women’s health is never overlooked.

Thank you so much for reading...

With love, The Hayes Family x