In April 2024, I will be running the TCS London Marathon for Aspire, the Spinal Cord Injury Charity. 

Aspire provides practical help and guidance to people who have been paralysed by Spinal Cord Injury, supporting them from injury to independence - and is a charity very close to our hearts as a family.

As many of you close to us will know, my dad Steve crashed during a mountain bike race in April 2018, breaking his back and sustaining a T6 complete spinal cord injury which left him paralysed from the chest down. He spent two weeks in intensive care in Liverpool, followed by nearly 6 months of specialist rehabilitation at the Northwest Regional Spinal Injuries Centre in Southport. 

It was during this time at Southport that my dad met with Aspire, who were able to talk him through some of the most devastating and challenging months after the accident, and provide some light at the end of the tunnel for what life post-injury could look like. 

Aspire, along with other SCI-focused charities, provided support and critical information when we needed it most, showing how dad (and us as a family) could find hope in our new normal, and how the things we thought might now be impossible - could be made possible. From legal advice, to how we could make our home more accessible, to support on driving, returning to work and regular support groups, our eyes were opened to what post-injury life might resemble.

Spinal Cord Injury affects 2500 people in the UK every year. That’s 15,000 people and 15,000 families who will have experienced the challenges we have as a family over the past 6 years since Dad’s accident - and many more before it. 

I’m running the London Marathon 6 years to the day of my dad’s accident (21st April), to raise as much money as possible to ensure any families who have to face this change in their lives can do so with dignity and support from Aspire, as we did. 

I’m also running to support Aspire’s continued campaign for a world where people who sustain Spinal Cord Injury should have equal opportunities in life, free from physical obstacles, economic barriers and social prejudices.