In May 2024, my amazing mum Catherine Mitchell was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease. Motor neurone disease (MND) is a progressive disease that attacks the motor neurones, or nerves, in the brain and spinal cord. This means messages gradually stop reaching muscles, which leads to weakness and wasting. MND can affect how you walk, talk, eat, drink and breathe.

It would be an understatement to say that life for our mum and our family has been difficult since then. Words cannot really convey how hard it has been watching our mum go through this frankly brutal disease. However, even in such challenging times, there have been so many inspirational moments. Seeing my mum constantly smile and laugh even whilst going through it. Seeing her call my Grandma, her mum, every evening (as she has done for 20 years since my Grandad died). Hearing my very elderly Grandma waiting for my mum to type out messages on her specialist tablet to then play down the phone - now that my mum cannot communicate verbally. Seeing my sister Lizzie get the train up from London nearly every weekend to spend time with my mum. Seeing Liz call our Grandma nearly everyday now herself. Seeing my brother Joe run the Rob Burrow Marathon last year, with so many family friends running it and the half too. The list goes on! Not just my immediate family either, so many from our wider family and friends have offered support and comfort to my mum in so many ways - its been amazing. Not to mention Rob Burrow himself and all that he has done for MNDA. All of this has helped inspire me to run the Leeds half marathon this year with team MNDA.

This will be my first half marathon. Ive only started running since watching the Marathon last year. Im amazingly injury prone, so I've had to train slow and steady. It no doubt will be challenging on the day but I'm looking forward to crossing the finish line and seeing family and friends there.

I cannot imagine how life with this already extremely difficult disease would have been 50, 40.... even 10 years ago for those with MND. Its thanks to MNDA and their research that so much progress has been made in helping people with MND. Help with equipment and technology, grants for people with MND and their families, advice, campaigning and of course research into a cure - that is getting closer every year.

Although there is currently no cure for MND, symptoms can be managed to help achieve the best possible quality of life. Any donation of any amount would mean so much to my family and all those affected by MND.

Here is what the money you donate today could help provide:

£280 could pay for a person with MND to download their banked voice

£500 could fund a tablet device, giving the ability to communicate with loved ones

£1000 could pay for detailed analysis of DNA to help us better understand the causes of the disease.

Thank you for the support, it means so much!