12 Miles for 12,000 Kids: Harper’s Walk for CCAA

Two years ago, inside the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre (NOC) in Headington, our world completely shifted. We walked out with a life-changing diagnosis for our 4-year-old daughter, Ruby: Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA).

Since that day, the NOC has become a place defined by what seemed like endless hospital appointments, painful joint flares, blood tests, and the quiet isolation that comes with managing a lifelong, invisible condition. Ruby looks like any active little girl on the outside, but on the inside, her immune system attacks her own healthy joints.

When everything felt overwhelming, we found the Children’s Chronic Arthritis Association (CCAA).

Attending the CCAA Family Support Weekend brought us out of the dark. It gave us answers from medical specialists, surrounded us with an incredible community, and showed us that Ruby will never have to face this journey alone.

There are 12,000 children in the UK living with JIA, often bearing the pain of an invisible illness in silence.

To mark two years since that life-changing diagnosis, Ruby’s 10-year-old brother, Harper, is taking on a massive physical effort to give back.

He is walking 12 miles—one mile for every 1,000 children living with JIA in the UK.

Harper is starting right outside those familiar hospital doors at the NOC—the site of so many difficult appointments, tears, and heavy days—and walking every step of the way back home to Bicester.

This is no small feat for a 10-year-old, especially as Harper navigates his own daily hurdles with Dyspraxia and ADHD. Walking 12 miles will push him to the absolute limit. But Harper is stepping into that challenge head-on—decked out in bright CCAA yellow—determined to turn a site of endless hospital visits into a path of hope, walking in solidarity for his little sister.

Every penny raised goes directly to the CCAA to fund life-changing Family Support Weekends, local support groups, and the fantastic badge scheme for diagnosed families.

Please sponsor Harper as he turns two years of hospital visits into a journey of hope, awareness, and sibling love!

Thank you so much for your support! 💛