Last week, my dad suffered a stroke on the left side of his brain. When a stroke strikes, part of your brain shuts down. And so does a part of you. Life changes instantly and recovery is tough.

Ian had a left-sided stroke, and currently has Aphasia. This condition affects your ability to speak and understand what others say. Aphasia is a common problem after stroke and around a third of stroke survivors have it.

If you've been lucky enough to meet my dad, and hear his (many!) health scare stories - you'll know that he's the man that can defy all odds... and we're rooting for him again to make a full recovery so he can add this tale to his repertoire and tell it himself. 

If you've been lucky enough to meet me, you'll know that I can't run for shit. I have the knees of an 84-year-old, it legit hurts to walk down a small flight of stairs and I couldn't even make it around the 5k Colour Run a few years ago. 

ALAS, I'm going to be running just over 16km for the Stroke Association in October for my hero (honestly that prob won't even be enough time for me to build up some sort of fitness or distance) with the hope that in October Ian will have regained most of his speech, and can tell me how I'm his favourite daughter again etc.

Thank you in advance for donating what you can - the Stroke Association is an incredible charity that provide specialist support, fund critical research and campaign to make sure people affected by stroke get the very best care and support to rebuild their lives. 

Rebuilding lives after a stroke is a team effort. It takes the determination of stroke survivors and carers, the generosity of supporters and the dedication of the healthcare and research communities to get there.