I am delighted to be running the London Marathon in 2019 on behalf of The Back Up Trust who have made a difference to the lives of three very special people who I am privileged to have as friends. Please read their stories below and I'd be grateful for your sponsorship so that Back-Up can continue to help people who have Spinal Cord Injuries. Your donation could really help to transform lives!

David Fraser

I first met the fabulous David Fraser in the late nineties in Thames Ditton when our families became firm friends. David had a high powered job in the city and was action man (and action Dad!) at the weekends. In January 2000 David was on his bike travelling into work and had a devastating collision with a skip lorry. He suffered a catastrophic injury with a complete transaction of his spinal cord at T4 meaning paralysis from the chest down. The brilliant staff at St Thomas's NHS Trust saved his life and after 4 weeks in an induced coma he was awakened to a new beginning. Life would never be the same. It's been a tough haul for David especially as he was so physically fit and active. He has taken head on the physical and mental challenges faced in coping with disability. He is amazing. It's fantastic to see him hand cycling around the local area. Nothing will hold him back. David admits that without his family, friends and the support of the Back Up Trust, fear and negativity would have triumphed. Three people every day suffer a spinal cord injury and become part of his world. Please dig deep and support Back-Up.

Kitty Castledine

At the tender age of 7 years old Kitty Castledine walked to school with her Mum Lucy. One hour into lessons Kitty was struck down when her own body's defence system attacked her spinal cord resulting in INSTANT paralysis through an illness called ‘Transverse Myelitus’ or TM. Having a devastating spinal cord injury at such a young age has its challenges and Kitty had to adapt to a new way of life. Suffering paralysis, adjusting to life in a wheel chair and being unable to walk was very difficult to overcome and the amazing Kitty Castledine has not let it hold her back one bit. She is now a sixteen year old beautiful independent young lady who has achieved so much with help from the Back Up Trust and her own excellent wheelchair skills. (She's also very intelligent!) Kitty attained 10 excellent GCSEs this summer and has gained a much sought after drama scholarship. She was out in front leading the closing ceremony of the 2012 Paralympics which whet her appetite for a career in the media where she hopes to follow her Mum as a TV presenter or actress. I'm sure Kitty's ambition will be realised knowing her determined nature and the fact that nothing has held her back so far! She is a true inspiration and a role model.
Kitty has lots of amazing supportive friends one of whom is my daughter Lizzie. They have been mates since nursery and are still getting into trouble!

Jo Wright

Jo Wright is inspirational. She was one of the first female business leaders in IBM UK and I had the privilege of working for her during the nineties. She moved from IBM onto much greater things and I'm glad to say I'm still in touch with this wonderful woman.
In 2011 Jo noticed her back was sore on a Monday morning. Over the course of the next 4 days she became feverish, and the pain in her back became acute. On Friday morning she was unable to urinate and her balance was failing. By Friday evening her legs were paralyzed and she was losing movement in her arms. As she was put into an ambulance, little did she know that she wouldn’t return home for 7 months. Emergency surgery revealed that Jo had suffered a very rare Spinal Epidural Abscess. Further complications followed and Jo had more emergency surgery to treat an infected Pleura and remove a necrotic gall bladder. Her family were told to prepare for the worst. The pain was indescribable and she remained totally paralyzed from the waist down, with some loss of function in her hands. The fast growing abscess had squashed and permanently damaged Jo’s Spinal Cord, and although she has since regained some function, she has a permanent incomplete paraplegia and relies upon a wheelchair for mobility.
Jo first came across the Back Up Trust after two months in hospital when she was transferred Spinal Rehabilitation Hospital to learn how to live with the devastating consequences of her injury. They came to deliver a wheelchair skills session and it was a total revelation: people who lived in wheelchairs sharing their skills and handy hints (how do you wheel with a glass of wine in your hand?) and telling funny stories about going skiing, driving, horse riding etc.... they all had fun and fulfilling lives! It was like a light was turned on in the dark tunnel.
Since then, Jo has been on an outdoor activity course with Back Up.... managing zip wires, kayaking, swimming and abseiling followed by a camp fire makes a trip to Tesco seem much less daunting. Back Up have provided support to her husband and 3 children too for whom the affects of Jo’s injury are at least as devastating as for Jo. Every member of her family has since done something for Back Up.... be it training to be a mentor, being a buddy on a youth course, running a Half marathon: it was Back Up who showed the whole family that life could be good again, and provided support at crucial times to them all. The Wright family now has a really happy new normal, and it was Back Up that made them believe they could. So come on folks; please support Back-Up and amazing people like Jo!