I am fundraising for Bart’s Charity by running the 2026 London Marathon. I had also planned to run the Rome Marathon in March but had to pull out due to injury. The training has taken its toll and I have bad tendinitis in both knees, and two physios have told me to stop running… but I am pressing ahead with the London Marathon! For an extra challenge, I’m mainly training pushing my son Arthur in a running buggy!

Why am I doing this? Because the Royal London Hospital saved my mums life.

On 30th March 2018, we were celebrating my (now) wife Lizzie’s 30th birthday. She rented a bar in Shoreditch and insisted on fancy dress. London Tube Map theme. What started as a celebration, suddenly turned. A combination of the heat in the basement bar, and her thick wig (High Barnet), meant my mum fainted, fell, and hit her head on a sharp metal skirting board. She suffered a severe brain trauma.

The following hours and days were terrifying. But we realise now how lucky we were to be less than a mile from the Royal London – one of Europe’s leading trauma hospitals. We were saved by a league of heroes – from the ambulance crew who arrived instantly, the AE team who urgently triaged her, and the world leading surgeons who operated on her through the night. Looking back now, their urgent intervention undoubtedly saved her life. But at the time, we had no idea. And she was left in an induced comma in ICU for almost four weeks.

During this time, the prognosis was bleak. The doctor’s told us ‘IF’ she wakes up, she could have irreversible brain damage.

But they also hadn’t met Iona Rees before! Mum not only woke up, but went on to make a full and miraculous recovery. And to this day, frankly doesn’t know what all the fuss was about. She has shown unbelievable levels of resilience, and simply refers to the incident as her ‘bump on the head’…

Since 2018, Mum returned to work and played a vital role in coordinating the COVID vaccine roll out. She saw two of her children get married (myself included!) and stole the show both times with her speech. And she’s become the most incredible Nanna to Theo, Louis, Cam and Arthur… and has a 5th Grandson on the way, due just after London Marathon. We are eternally grateful to have had all these memories, with many more to come.

It is impossible to truly articulate this gratitude for the whole Royal London team. We fundraised at the time and you all gave so generously. I know it is a lot to ask you to donate again. But we will be forever indebted to the Royal London. Anything you can give to help us say thank you will mean so much to our family.

Thank you!