Many of you reading this will know that I have now run many marathons for GOSH - 2023 will be my 8th, and at the time of writing this the Emily Grote Team GOSH fund stands at £138,235.81. I will be running once again with my dear sister Helen, Emily's Aunty, and between us it would be wonderful to make it to £150,000 this year!

To those who have given year on year - THANK YOU - your support continues to mean a great deal to us. 

Our journey with GOSH began back in June 2014, when Emily (aged 3 at the time) was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour, a craniopharygioma. Since then she has undergone multiple neuro surgeries at GOSH as well as a course of proton beam therapy in Jacksonville, Florida. 

Emily's tumour has had a colossal and devastating impact on her life. Perhaps most significantly, it has left her completely blind. She is unable to produce most of her own hormones so is on a round-the-clock regime of life sustaining medication. Damage to her brain has led to hypothalamic obesity and type 2 diabetes. 

Most recently, Emily had a long stay on Koala ward at GOSH from October to December 2022, for an operation to attempt to resect much of the tumour. This led to various complications and - sadly - we learnt in January 2023 that the cystic component of the tumour has refilled again. As always, Emily's future is uncertain and living with that uncertainty takes its toll on our family, who have dealt with all this for nearly nine years now. 

The most important message, however, and the point of running another London Marathon, is that through it all GOSH have always been there for Emily and for us. It is impossible as a parent to express one's gratitude for the world's best paediatric medical treatment, there whenever Emily has needed it, and the many gifted professionals who deliver it. Mr Kristian Aquilina is Emily's neurosurgeon and has performed numerous complex procedures to help her: for his skill, dedication, kindness and compassion we continue to be immeasurably thankful. 

There is then the whole team of staff  whose devotion to the children and families in their care makes a long stay in hospital bearable even in the toughest of times. Nurses who are constantly going the extra mile, teachers from the GOSH school who bring joy and purpose to Emily's hospital room, play workers and specialists who bring fun and laughter, domestic workers who serve meals with a smile and cheerful conversation. GOSH is an extended family for those who depend on it. 

To all of them: THANK YOU! Running another London Marathon is just one way of expressing our ongoing gratitude and raising some money, in the hope that when another family needs the same help, GOSH can be there for them too. 

Thank you all for your continued support and great generosity in donating again to this special cause. 

Ashley Grote