The 2nd July 2011, is a date etched into my mind until the day I die .  It was the day when at the time my 8 month old beautiful little girl contracted group B bacterial Meningoccal septicaemia, (meningitis) a day that quickly became a nightmare that I could not wake up from.

 It was all a bit hazy and surreal when we were first told by the doctors at Queens hospital Romford. Time kind of melted away and even now I could not put a time frame on the series of events that happened that day but in short, our poor little vibrant angel went from waking up that saturday morning in her usual happy smiley way,  but within 2 hours was just lying in my arms like a rag doll.  We rushed her to hospital and the medical staff immediately knew there was something seriously wrong.  The doctors and nurses were amazing and all worked hard and fast to help her.  Her temp soared to 42.5 we knew she was in serious trouble.  We sat there for hours, holding the most precious gift I have ever been given, with tubes and wires coming out of her tiny body, and the feeling of complete helplessness.  All we wanted was for her to be safe and well but there was absolutely nothing we could do but to rely on the medical team around us.

Miraculously, as the hours went by that night her temp started to drop and her breathing more stable, our little girl was fighting through it, so much so that within 48 hours she was sitting up in her hospital bed watching Mickey Mouse.  The rash did not appear until the next evening so even though we thought we were over the toughest hurdle we now knew that she had septicaemia (blood poisoning) all the panic and worry come racing back, but thankfully Daisie kept growing stronger.

The nightmare did eventually end and Daisie has what seems to at this point made a full recovery, with no side effects, and last week she had her final hospital check up appointment and has now been discharged.  We are so lucky as parents to have got through this with a happy ending, things could of been so much worse, as we are aware it is and can be for so many other less fortunate parents .

So this is why I am running the Virgin London Marathon, firstly to help the Meningitis Trust raise awareness of this awful illness, to help them fund and assist families that are less fortunate then we were, and to help them with funding with all of their research. Secondly, to prove to myself that I can put this nightmare behind me and even though I could just about run a bath before I started training, if my little angel at the age of 8 months had the strength to fight this off, then for me to find the strength to run a marathon it's a small hurdle to cross in comparison.

So please please please dont just read this and ignore my plea, even as small as £1 can help, this terrible illness can effect everyone of us and is such a fast killer, it only takes a minute to donate and a minute for this bug to take control, So each minute that is spent on people donating, is a minute closer to stopping this.  So dig deep into those pockets and help me with this cause. 

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