During the first Covid lock-down, when the world went on hold, our world got turned upside down when our then 3 year old son got diagnosed with T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (T-ALL). IT was a very difficult first year of treatment with multiple nights in hospital, sometimes weeks at a time, followed by high dose chemotherapy, blood transfusions, operations and a lot of tears and worry. We thought that we were through the toughest part and had hit the maintenance stage of treatment when we got some of the worst news that you can hear during cancer treatment, the cancer had returned.

At this point our only option was bone marrow transplant. We had to start the process of searching for a suitable match for Harrison, which is where the amazing Anthony Nolan charity comes into our story. We were fortunate enough that Harrison’s big brother Zach was a match and was able to be his donor, there is only a one in four chance that a sibling is a match. Many people in this situation are not this lucky and have to rely on charities such as Anthony Nolan to find a match for them from amazing people who put their name on the register and donate their bone marrow to save a life.

Harrison then had to go through even more harsh, very high dose, chemotherapy followed by full body radiation to make sure that we had got him into remission and killed all of his bone marrow off for the bone marrow to do its magic and give him a new chance and survival. This involved months in hospital and long term effects that come along with this type of treatment. We have met some amazing people along the way but unfortunately we have also lost some, including an amazing boy who was having a transplant at the same time as Harrison and had become a wonderful friend to him.

This year will mark his 5 years anniversary (re-birthday) since Harrison’s transplant, so I have decided to do something big and challenging to raise money for the charity Anthony Nolan by running the London Marathon. This is something that is definitely out of my comfort zone as I am not a big runner and have never ran more than 10 k before. I am doing this on behalf of my son Harrison, in memory of his wonderful friend and to help anyone find the match that they need to give them a new chance at life.

Please donate if you can, every little helps towards my target. Please also have a look at the website and consider adding yourself to the register.

https://www.anthonynolan.org/

Please also follow me on instagram to see the journey to the start line and how I get on.

@thismumhasgottorun

Anthony Nolan’s world-leading stem cell register, groundbreaking cell and gene therapy research and expertise in stem cell transplants means we currently help four patients a day in need of a transplant, giving more people another chance to live. But we know we can, and must, do more. Driven by patients, backed by stem cell donors, powered by science, and with your support, we won’t stop until we’ve uncovered the lifesaving potential of the cells inside us all, and every patient can survive and thrive.