We are running the Paris Marathon to help raise awareness for FEVR. Our beautiful little cousin Rosie was diagnosed with FEVR last year and until then we were unaware of the disease.

FEVR is predominantly a blinding disorder caused by the abnormal growth of blood vessels in the eye. At the moment the research is at a stage which they call "basic research". This means that they are trying to identify and characterise the molecules and pathways that control the normal development of blood vessels in the eye and how defects in these can result in FEVR. Once they have this information they can hopefully use this as a starting point to develop therapies. The money we raise will be going towards this research.

The FEVR research community all collaborate together and the UK has active collaborations with ophthalmologists in Australia based in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth so money donated to UK research actually benefits all FEVR patients including those in Australia so hopefully our Rosie will benefit from these donations in the future.

A massive thank you to anyone that can spare us a bit of cash. We have put in the man/ woman hours on the streets of London & Brighton over the past few months and are in the final countdown to the big day..... gulp!

Thank you also to everyone at National Eye Research Centre & Leeds Teaching Hospital for all their help answering my lengthy questions! xx