I am running the 2026 London Marathon for Meningitis Research Foundation (gulp!)

2021 saw milestones like graduating uni, but also hit me with a week on the end of life ward.

We didn’t join the dots as fast as we could have because I didn’t have the rash that we’re all warned about. I was ill for over a week before finally heading to hospital, and time is really of the essence with meningitis (sorry Joe your emergency office paracetamol didn’t really do me any good!). I had even had the meningitis vaccine at school.

It was the scariest experience of my life. My family weren’t allowed into the ward to visit once I was moved to end of life, only at the “eleventh hour” would they be admitted.

I owe everything to my family. To my lovely Dad, my baby Sister for FaceTiming me during hospital dinner times because she was worried I would be lonely at mealtimes in my isolation room, and to my Mum, who put the symptoms-jigsaw together, slept on the floor, and managed to bargain her way through the hospital to the end of life ward to be able to give me a “be brave” hug before my lumbar puncture. I’m still moving, grooving, and causing mischief all thanks to her. I owe her my life.

Know what to look out for and act fast. You don’t always get the rash. There is so much good this charity does in helping tackle meningitis and I’m really proud to be running the London Marathon in 2026 for them.

Any donations, big or small, are all appreciated. Thank you for all the support💜