Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Some of you may know my Dad, Ian.

Dad went through a pretty rough 2024, but is surviving and 2025 is looking better.

I'm running and raising money for the MyAware charity that researches and supports him and the 20,000 others that have the same incurable disease he has - Myasthenia Gravis.

To put you in the picture, back in 2009 he was diagnosed with "ocular myasthenia gravis".

Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is a chronic auto-immune disease that causes muscle weakness (in his case initially, to his eyes).

As a result the messages sent from his brain to his head and neck muscles were weak, which meant he took medication 4 times a day.

Just before Covid, it turned into generalised MG.

A small amount of steroids were added to his meds, and whilst some days he was very weak, others were ok and he could maintain a good quality of life (especially on the golf course and the table tennis table!)

In March 2024, he was hit with what is called an MG crisis. Basically all his muscles went very weak, his throat clammed shut, he couldn't breath or swallow properly and he was rushed to hospital.

He was there for a month, with a week in Intensive Care, including 5 plasma exchanges and a huge struggle to keep him alive.

Pulling through, he left hospital at Easter, with a very high dosage of steroids every day (compared to the single figure amount he was taking before) and made some good progress initially.

Unfortunately that progress plateaued in mid-2024 because the amount of steroids being taken has brought on type 2 diabetes and other significant side effects, including cataracts.

A month ago he bought a running (well walking) machine to strengthen his legs and whilst progress is slow, he is getting stronger in the body, to match his mental sharpness.

His goal was to be playing golf again by Easter 2025 (unlikely), but I want him to be able to "jump" the barrier and complete the last 385 yards of the London Marathon alongside me!

The trouble with MG is that there are many drugs that cause adverse reactions and doctors find it very hard to treat it when things go wrong. THE RESEARCH MYAWARE DO IS EVERYTHING. And so, they need your money please!

Please donate what you can, no matter how small or large, to support MyAware and to push me on through the months of training required during the cold, dark winter months for the big day at the end of April 2025.

Many, many thanks!

Phil