I am running the London Marathon in April 2013 for my beautiful niece Millie. Millie was diagnosed with Tuberous Sclerosis when she was 3 ½ months old following several epilepsy related seizures. Millie was rushed into hospital again at 12 months and 13 months following further seizures, the first of which led her to be on the intensive care ward at Alder Hey Children's hospital and on a ventilator for several days.

Unfortunately since first writing this piece Millie has been taken back into hospital again on the 8th December with another prolonged seizure leading to her needing to be ventilated once again as she was not breathing sufficiently by herself following the seizure. The page picture shows her recovering after the ventilator was removed. She has been so incredibly brave in recovery and we are left speechless with how she is coping with it all.

Tuberous sclerosis is a complex condition caused by an alteration in a gene. People with tuberous sclerosis have growths in different organs of the body (brain, heart, eyes, skin, kidneys, lungs) and may have epilepsy, learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorder and kidney problems. Symptoms vary from one person to another with some people showing very few symptoms and others more severely affected. It is thought to affect around 1 in 6,000 new births.

All the money from my run will go straight to the TS association to help them towards their vision of finding a cure for tuberous sclerosis and enhance the lives of those affected. The money will fund ongoing research and provide additional help and support for those people with tuberous sclerosis and those that care for them.

I can assure you I will be training very very hard for the marathon, I am used to doing the odd 3 or 4 miles but could never imagine doing 26! Your support and money will not only help the charity but will also help keep me motivated to go out running every week!

Thank-you so much

Charlotte (Rachel's pantry) xx

So please dig deep and donate now.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.