Hey guys 👋🏻

I’ll be running the London Marathon 2025 in memory of my dad and so more people like my son, Ted, can beat blood cancer. Please please give blood - that parts free! But if you have any spare pennies, it would mean the world to me if you could sponsor my marathon for Blood Cancer UK.

A little more information on why I’m running…

My father was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma (incurable bone marrow cancer) in January 2020. A few short weeks later, my 10 month old son, Ted, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (with MLL rearrangement). Our world was thrown upside down. Two blood cancer diagnosis in a matter on months, all whilst the world was locked down.

Covid restrictions reduced contact, support and created challenges within the health care system. My Father attended appointments alone, he spent long hospital stays alone and ultimately, in February 2021, he passed away alone.

My son’s journey hit us hard; on diagnosis he was transferred to the PICU, in Addenbrookes, after suffering some complications following surgery to insert his central line. He suffered severe blood loss during surgery, pulmonary edema caused his lungs to collapse and he had sepsis, all on top of his leukaemia diagnosis. He was placed in a medically induced coma, intubated and unable to breath for himself, where he remained for 10 days.

Ted did not make much progress in those first few days and doctors prepared me for the worst... he was not expected to recover. News I faced alone and had to pass to my husband, Richard, over the phone as covid restrictions meant only one parent was allowed in hospital at any one time. Richard was separated from Ted and I was separated from our daughter and Ted’s twin, Alice.

Against all the odds and with a few extra days in PICU Ted surprised us all and pushed through; he was transferred to the paediatric cancer ward in Addenbrookes where we remained for 8 months.

Ted faced 5 long and gruelling chemotherapy rounds - the longest being over 50 days of multiple toxic, yet life saving drugs, daily. All medicines designed for adults, not children. The side effects of chemotherapy are brutal. Nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, constipation, diarrhoea, mucositis, hair loss - not forgetting the steroid rage! The list goes on! I thought I would be prepared for hair loss, but when it happened the first time it was a real punch to the gut - it made it all the more real. Aside from the physical effects, the emotional effects on Ted and our family were devastating - I will never the forget the first whimpers he made after waking from his coma.

If we were lucky, we got a few days at home in between treatment blocks, but these moments as a family of four were quickly interrupted with infection or the need for blood transfusions.

Along side chemotherapy, there were steroids, anti-fungals, anti-biotics and many many more medicines. He needed red blood cell and platelet transfusions every few days (plus a few cryo transfusions); he received well over 100 transfusions during his treatment. (PLEASE DONATE BLOOD, IT SAVES LIVES!)

All of this was given through his central line - the line that almost cost him his life, also saved his life. Ted had two life threatening bacterial infections in his central line during his treatment, sepsis twice more, which led to multiple surgeries to remove, recover and then refit the line. This also prolonged his treatment.

These surgeries were on top of regular anaesthetics to take bone barrow samples and lumbar punctures. Add in to the mix a severed finger and another surgery to re-attach said finger - Ted did several rounds with Mike Tyson and came out on top every time!

Ted had a NG tube fitted which remained in place for 2 years. This was his main source of nutrition through his treatment and also a way to administer oral chemotherapy.

Ted made it through those 8 months like a champ. He was discharged from Addenbrookes on 23rd December 2020. 18 months of maintenance treatment followed; more hospital appointments and admissions than I can count.

When you have a central line fitted, you are at high risk of infection (which can escalate quickly). Every temperature were treated as if he had a bacterial infection; which meant a minimum of 48hrs hospital admission so he could be treated with IV antibiotics. He spiked weekly, sometimes twice weekly. We thought the hard bit was over, but it turns out we slept more in hospital during that 18 months of maintenance than we did at home. Ted did many of his big ‘firsts’ in hospital; he took his first steps in hospital.

Ted finished treatment in 2022 and fast forward to today, he is thriving. He is a bright, kind, cheeky and imaginative boy.

The side effects of chemotherapy are awful, but we are fortunate chemotherapy did the job and more invasive treatment was not required. Spending 8 months on a children’s cancer ward was a humbling experience, one I wish I never had, but it certainly puts things in perspective.

Running a marathon has always been a dream and as I turn 40 this year (2024), I am excited to take on this challenge, in turn helping a charity which means a lot to my family. Life is expensive at the moment, so any pennies you are able to spare would be greatly appreciated. But please, give blood - that’s free and you could be a real life hero.