On April 9th 2010 I gave birth to the most beautiful baby boy, and I felt the luckiest woman in the world. My whole world came crashing down when 6 weeks later he began to lose muscle tone, become weak and unresponsive and he failed to reach any of his developmental milestones. Over the next 6 weeks I watched him die. There was nothing I could do, there was no treatment. Casper had a mitochondrial disease.

We had never heard of Mitochondrial disease before (although I vaguely remembered the word from GCSE biology). It was such a rare condition and we felt so lonely and isolated, with no one to talk to and no one who understood our pain. We had our child taken from us, our status as a parent removed and virtually no hope of having children again. It couldn't have been any worse.

We found hope through the Lily Foundation. They are a charity that were fairly new when I got in touch with them, but their aim is to support families who have been affected by this devastating condition. They provide emotional, practical and financial support to families. They have been a rock for us, a pillar of support and most importantly have put us in touch with other families like us. A huge part of our grief was helped by talking to other people who knew what we've been through.

It is 6 years on and I want to give something back. I don't often speak about Casper in every day talk - not because I have forgotten him but because the memory is still so incredibly painful. It's a coping mechanism that helps me get out of bed each day. We have been blessed with 2 miracle rainbow babies, who have both been tested and are free from the disease. Through all the challenges that parenthood brings me I still remember each evening how lucky and fortunate we are to have them.

Myself and a group of 'mito' mums have decided to run the Vitality London 10,000 together on May 30th. It is a group challenge...some of us have never run before, some of us are injured, some of us have never wanted to. I fit into the second two categories! This 10k is a challenge for me. Not only because I'll have to keep the tears back whilst running, but I suffer from terrible back pain which has prevented me from running since having children. It will be a huge achievement if I get round, but the thought of being encouraged by my friends and family will keep me going and get me to the end!

So this is where I need your help... Please could you sponsor me? Any amount, big or small (don't be embarrassed) I will be so appreciative. Please help make a difference to someone else's life, as the Lily Foundation they have done to ours....

www.thelilyfoundation.com

www.casperwilkes.com