On Sunday 2nd October I will be running the London marathon for a charity called Bliss in honour and celebration of my darling daughter Olivia who should have been turning ten years old this year on the 26th June. 

Olivia was born naturally and well on Tuesday 26th June 2012. 

She was admitted to Poole Hospital aged 6 days due to dramatic weight loss and became very unwell very suddenly. The retriveal team came from the PICU team at Southampton Hospital to try and stabilise her and get her to Southampton. At this stage it was not clear what the exact problem with the heart was.

Olivia's heart stopped in the ambulance on the way from Poole to Southampton and the team got her heart working again. It was clear she could not survive without the help of a heart and lung support machine and so she was immediately placed on an ECMO machine.

The PICU team then learnt that she had a virus that had caused the heart muscle to become extremely damaged and stop working.

The hope was that Olivia could buy some time on the life support machine to allow the heart to recover. Unfortunately this was not to be and it became clear that the heart muscle had become so damaged that it could not recover.

With great sadness Olivia was taken off the life support in my arms and peacefully went to Heaven aged 2 weeks.

I am running the marathon to celebrate Olivia’s tenth birthday and to raise money for a charity called Bliss who help premature and sick babies in the UK to give every baby the best possible future. 

This will not be an easy task after having four babies, juggling life with three children and work but I want to give this my all. On the plus side Dave won’t be slowing me down this time !! 

1 in every 7 babies born in the UK will need specialist care. Bliss is the leading UK charity for babies born premature or sick. They rely on donations to fund their work, and without our help they won't be able to reach the 90,000 babies needing neonatal care each year.

Your donation to my page will help Bliss to drive improvements in neonatal care, to ensure that the needs of babies are at the heart of policy and planning for the future, and to provide information and support to all families with a baby born premature or sick.

Thank you. 

Love Laura xxx