This year I've decided to step out of my comfort zone and take part in the 2023 Great North Run. I am running on behalf of the Bubble Foundation UK, a Newcastle based charity without which my twin brother James might not be alive today. 

In 2011, James was diagnosed with a condition called Chronic Granulomatouse Disease, which is a genetically inherited condition affecting about 4 in every million people. People with CGD have a faulty bone marrow gene which means that their white blood cells don't function correctly. As a result, it is a life-threatening and life-limiting condition. 

James went in to The Great North Childrens Hospital (RVI Newcastle) in August 2012 for a Bone Marrow Transplant. He lived in a germ free bubble of sterile air in a room just 10ft square and was isolated from normal life for 7 weeks and had no contact with any of his family or friends. The Bone Marrow Transplant Unit in Newcastle-upon-Tyne is one of only two units in the UK and Ireland that can give children like James the meticulous medical and nursing care they need. 

Without the love and care that the Bubble Foundation team gave him, James wouldn't be living the normal healthy life that he is today, so that's why I want to raise as much money as possible for them. For this I need your help, so that more babies and children can recover and live normal lives just like James has! The Bubble Foundation is a small local charity that doesn't get as much funding from the government as it deserves, so every little helps!

As much as we pretend to hate each other, and wind our Mam and Dad up to no end, James is not only my twin brother but one of my best friends, and without him my life so far wouldn't have been half as special. I'm doing the run as a way of saying thanks to the Bubble Foundation for all of it's help over the years - so please donate if you can and help me give back to this amazing charity!

Emily <3