Hi folks,

As some of you may already know, my Mum, Judy Naunton, died of Leukaemia in September 2010. I miss her very much.

Mum battled against the illness for ten months. During that time she had three courses of chemotherapy which got rid of the cancerous cells, and a bone marrow transplant to make sure they couldn't come back. Although the treatment was successful in tackling the root cause, it ravaged Mum's body: for much of that time she could only 'eat' through an intravenous tube, she was frequently sick, she lost her hair of course, and by the end she was so weak that she couldn't stand, walk, or even sit up in bed without help. The illness and the treatment left her horribly exposed to infection and one day she caught something which affected her lungs, stopped her body from taking Oxygen on board, and just over a day after hospital staff noticed there was something very wrong, she slipped away.

The staff at Kingston Hospital and the Royal Marsden in Sutton were fantastic, but Leukaemia is a horrible, horrible illness. Mum really suffered for those ten months. We all did our best to keep her spirits - and ours - up, but it wasn't easy. We would have done anything to have made her life more comfortable and there's not much I wouldn't do now to have her back.

The charity Cure Leukaemia is based at the University of Birmingham where I studied. Their researchers are doing everything they can to try and beat this disease. 

In case you've made donations to Leukaemia charities in the past when I've asked, as an incentive, I will wear the Tutankhamun hat in the photo throughout the Great Birmingham Run if I reach £1,500 in pledges. And if I get to £2,500 I'll don the Tutankhamun leggings as well...

Any contribution you could make would be greatly appreciated, by me and my family, by the Cure Leukaemia team, and by anyone affected by blood cancers. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.