Imagine you're in your late twenties. You've been saving and waiting for years to travel the world and finally you have your chance to go back-packing like you have always dreamed. You're living your best life, seeing the Globe, meeting new people, doing shift work to get by when you start to get weird symptoms - ulcers and random pains.

Eventually, the symptoms get so bad that you have to abandon your travels and come home to Britain. Your GP doesn't know what is wrong with you. Some days you feel okay, others you're really poorly. Sometimes your feet swell up so much you can't walk or drive. Aches in your joints are excruciating and you experience extreme fatigue which comes in waves. It gets so bad you have to use a wheelchair for a while. Your condition makes it impossible to plan for the future, hold down a job or even (some days) function. You're stuck.

This was the situation my brother Ethan found himself in during the run up to his diagnosis with Behcet's Syndrome in 2016. Behcets is an extremely rare, hereditary illness and, whilst you can manage the symptoms to an extent with regular infusions (similar to chemotherapy) there is no cure. 

Whilst Ethan now has a wonderful care team, living with Behcets has had a really profound impact on his quality of life and, as you can imagine, on our whole family. We have sometimes found it hard to get people to understand - Like millions of others, my brother is living with an invisible condition which can be debilitating. Humans often have difficulty wrapping our heads around things they can't see. Coupled with the fact Behcets is so rare, it's been difficult to get the kind of support we'd expect to receive if he had another, more widely-known severe illness or disability. 

That's why my other brother Joe and I have decided to do the Beach to Behcets challenge. We want to raise money for Behcets UK's vital research, but also to increase awareness of our brother's condition. Please give what you can. We know times are tough, so if you don't have anything to spare please take the time to read the below and tell someone you know about what Behcets is. 

Thank you.

Behçets (pronounced Bet-Jets), also known as Behçets Disease or Behçets Syndrome is a rare, complex and lifelong condition resulting from disturbances in the body's immune system. Symptoms, some debilitating, occur wherever there is a patch of inflammation; this can be anywhere where there is a blood supply from the brain down to the feet. Behçets UK cares for all those affected by Behçets including patients and their carers. They promote and fund research into the condition and their ultimate aim is to find a cure but in the meantime, they strive to obtain the best care for all Behçets patients. Behçet's UK doesn't receive any government funding and relies on the generosity of donors to continue to provide their services and deliver their aims.