I’m going to dedicate my three spring half marathons to the amazing team at St Richard’s ICU (Itchenor Ward).

On Tuesday 3rd February 2026 my brother Jeremy collapsed on the way to an appointment with his doctor. He was rushed by ambulance to St Richard’s hospital in Chichester in a very critical condition and would without doubt have died that night without medical intervention from the ambulance team, the staff on duty that night in A&E and the incredible ICU team and consultants who rushed down to A&E to save him.

Jeremy spent the next five days in an induced coma and, with a host of internal organ issues from his bladder to his kidneys to his lungs as well as sepsis, he needed the most skilled and dedicated intervention and care from the ICU team (and the Urology team) in order to survive. Today (10th Feb) he was moved into a surgical ward and begins his recovery away from the ICU.

My family was falling head-first into a dark and unimaginable abyss on that evening of Tuesday 3rd February but somehow this team of angels swooped down and scooped us all up in their caring hands and lifted us to safety. I will never forget the kindness and love that the ICU staff showed not only to Jeremy but to my family when we were visiting him or phoning for updates on his health. They - along with the urology consultants - truly are the most incredible collection of individuals and I was completely humbled whenever I spoke with them or saw them at work.

All I can really do to thank the team (apart from endlessly saying thank you to them) is to somehow try and raise a bit of money for them to put towards new and vital equipment they might need in future in order to help others like Jeremy

I’m going to be running three spring half-marathons - Brighton (1st March), Liverpool (15th March) and Worthing (3rd May) and I would like to dedicate all three races to the incredible ICU Team at St Richard’s. If you have a small amount you could donate I would be very grateful - I will be requesting that the Friends Of Chichester Hospitals donate any money raised, directly to the ICU ward.

** UPDATE WEDNESDAY 18TH FEB **

Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting to add an update like this to my page but what I am about to write only makes me even more determined to run my three half marathons and raise money for the Friends Of St Richard’s (however undertrained I am - running has taken a back seat to all of this).

We were staying with Mum and Dad at the weekend to help them through the whole situation with Jeremy but also because Dad has been unwell since Christmas. Around 3 AM on the morning of Monday 16th Dad became really unwell and I called an ambulance. He was taken to St Richard’s A&E department and I followed behind.

Dad was placed in an A&E corridor and after an initial examination from an amazing consultant (who incidentally is the father of one of the equally incredible people in ICU who helped saved Jeremy’s life the week before) it was clear he would be staying in hospital and would need a bed allocated.

Emergency Room corridors are of course like wards nowadays and whilst in the corridor Dad would occasionally be seen by the odd doctor and taken for the occasional scan. It became clear we were in for a long stay as the availability of NHS beds is pretty much at crisis point at the moment across the country. It was interesting to see hospital corridor life as we had only read about it up until now. It certainly is not comfortable. After a few hours we were moved from the corridor and placed in the Emergency Ward where they had a bit of floor space allowing Dad to be tucked up right against the central hub desk where all the consultants and nurses etc sit with their monitors and conduct their business. This is probably the busiest and noisiest place in the entire hospital. Not the easiest place to relax as a 90 year old waiting for a bed but an incredible place to be if you want to see how Emergency Rooms operate. What we didn’t expect was for our wait for a bed to be quite so long. Dad had to spend the entire night there right in the epicentre of this extraordinary hub of life saving activity and commotion and it was actually 35 hours in total before he was allocated a bed. So we arrived in A&E on Monday at 05:30 and incredibly didn’t leave there until Tuesday at 16:30. Fortunately Becky and Selena were able to stay with Mum and look after her. Dad is now in a (much quieter) ward and undergoing tests. He’s in the same hospital wing as Jeremy and I suppose this is a blessing as we can visit both of them at the same time. It’s an extremely difficult time for the family but we are so incredibly lucky to have both Jeremy and now Dad being treated with such good care and attention.

The whole A&E experience was a real eye opener for me and, especially as we were able to experience it over a 35 hour period from the very centre, I was able to see first hand just how incredible our NHS staff are. They really are the most amazing people - the care they give, the patience they show, the hard work they put in, it’s really humbling and I will forever be grateful to everyone we’ve seen who have helped Jeremy and now Dad. I’m in awe of them all and am even more proud now of my step-daughter Ali who works pretty near the front-line herself in dealing with stroke survivors in her Liverpool hospital. They all have my utmost respect and gratitude.

(That’s all - thanks for reading this far!)