In April 2008, my friend Stuart suffered a C1 spinal injury while playing a friendly rugby match in London. The injury left Stuart paralysed from the neck down and in need of respiratory support. 

The facilities and staff at Stanmore hospital helped Stuart to make a lot of progress and spinal research gave him hope, however, he sadly passed away due to complications from his injury in August 2009. 

Stuart was incredibly active and upbeat and the London Marathon is exactly the kind of event he would have taken part in. So when I pace those pavements on April 22nd, I will do so in memory of Stuart and to raise money for Spinal Research, which does so much to improve the quality of life of those afflicted by life changing spinal cord injuries.

Thank you for anything you can contribute to this amazing cause. 

Claire x

Spinal Research is the UK’s leading charity funding medical research around the world to develop effective treatments for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury. Every year 1,000 people in the UK and Ireland are paralysed following an injury to their spinal cord. We receive no government funding and rely entirely on the support of the public to raise funds for our research. Because of the efforts of our supporters, we have funded innovative medical research that has achieved a number of ground breaking changes in the field.