In February 2022, my dad Richard and I will be running the Brighton Half Marathon to help raise money for the ECHO Charity - Evelina Children's Heart Organisation (The Evelina Children’s Hospital). We are doing this as a huge thank you and to raise awareness for the incredible work they do for children with heart conditions after our beautiful and courageous niece and granddaughter received life-saving care there earlier this year. 

Isobel was 7 days old when she went into heart failure due to an undiagnosed and rare heart condition. By 10 days old she had emergency open heart surgery to fix her little heart. The impeccable care she received from the nurses, doctors and surgeons saved her life, and the care and attention our sister and daughter Kate and her partner Paul was also invaluable. They provided Isobel with immaculate and thoughtful care despite the austerity the NHS has faced; and made an unthinkably hard situation that little bit easier. Isobel is well and truly on the mend thanks to the Evelina Hospital’s hard working and dedicated staff. As a family, we owe so much to the staff at the Evelina and we will forever be grateful for how well they looked after our Isobel. Any amount we can raise so other children and families in similar situations receive the support they desperately deserve. Any amount you can donate, no matter how small, is very much appreciated.

As a charity,  ECHO lost around £96,000 in cancelled events last year- so every penny really will help them to be there for families.  All the money raised will directly support children with heart conditions and their families who have faced even harder times throughout the covid-19 pandemic, as you know some will still be isolating and others have been away from parents and loved ones in hospital as visitors numbers were reduced dramatically- the need for our services increased and your help means we will be there when the next families need us most.  

ECHO supports children and young people with heart conditions and their families, who’ve been treated by Evelina London and its network hospitals across the UK. Families are supported at every stage of their heart child’s journey from the moment of diagnosis through childhood, teenage years and during the transition to adult services. ECHO provides practical and emotional support and welcomes families into a community of shared experience and understanding, at times when there is little other help available.