My sister Nadia was diagnosed with chronic Leukemia in September 2021 at the age of 53 after discovering bruises on her body. As she has the chronic condition, it was strongly recommended by the specialist consultant to undergo a bone marrow/stem cell transplant once a donor match had been found.

My sister Nadia is a single mother who has raised her autistic son Rohan alone for most of his life (he is now 17 yrs old), following the loss of Rohan's father to a tragic surfing accident in Hawaii 11 years ago.

Following the death of Rohan's father my sister re-located back to the UK from Hawaii with Rohan, to seek family support and give her son the best education possible.

Raising an autistic child made it very difficult for my sister Nadia to form any new relationships and so at times it was a very lone existence.

After many years alone she met her current partner at the beginning of 2021 by chance on facebook, whilst searching for an old school friend. They were in the same class at school and now they have found each other 40 years later and fallen madly in love.

Finally, my sister's life was taking a new turn and the future was looking very bright, until like a bolt out of the blue her life was turned upside down on discovering she had the very rare chronic condition of Leukemia in early September 2021.

As her older brother and indeed the rest of the family, we were all devastated by the news and quickly rallied around my sister to give her all the support she needed.

Once my sister was admitted to the hospital in Bath to commence her chemotherapy, she could only nominate one person to visit her whilst in the hospital. It was a very tough decision initially but, in the end, she picked her new partner who has supported her every step of the way and really stepped up to the mark.

Also, my parents and my sister's friends have been fantastic, taking it in turns to send food parcels daily.

My younger brother has also been very supportive, visiting
the family most weekends and doing a lot of research regarding Leukemia, as well as keeping in regular contact with Nadia by phone, whilst in hospital.

My sister has a great support network world-wide, and I have been overwhelmed by the number of friends wishing her well & a full recovery on facebook.

I have helped with supporting my elderly parents through this emotional rollercoaster and looking out for my nephew Rohan.

I have often felt helpless while my sister is in hospital receiving treatment, so to help support her condition I thought it would be a good idea to blow the cobwebs off my running shoes and join Team Macmillan. 

So, on the 13th of March 2022, I will be running the Bath Half Marathon for the 3rd time, but in this case for Macmillan Cancer Support and my sister Nadia.

So please help support my fund raising, any amount donated will be much appreciated.

Thank you,

Andrew