ok here goes...

I was diagnosed with a brain tumour when I was 24. I was fit and healthy at the time but spent the next few years in and out of the National Neurological Hospital in Queen's Square, London. Thankfully my tumour wasn't cancerous but required some critical surgery to remove most of it. 

Following some time in a wheelchair and many follow up physio appointments I can now consider myself to be as close to fully recovered as I'm going to be. I still have problems with balance and eyesight but taking everything into account, I'm lucky to be alive. With my brother being an accountant for the NHS I have been reliably informed that my brain surgery, follow-up operations and other therapies has cost a fair bit; he also tells me that I am now fit enough to pay the hospital back. 

I've been doing a few Parkruns over the past couple of years and I think it's about time I stepped it up and attempted a marathon to raise money for the incredible work carried out at Queen's Square.

One in six of us is, or will be, affected by a neurological disorder. The National Brain Appeal raises funds to advance treatment and research into things like epilepsy, dementia and MS, to name a few. 

My lovely wife Becci has been a great support to me in my recovery, and unexpectedly she  developed epilepsy a few years ago herself. Becci has been on, what seemed to be an endless trial of anti-seizure medications to combat her condition, and is now thankfully herself nearly seizure-free.

With my medical condition alone, I’d have had enough motivation to fundraise for the Brain Appeal but with Becci's situation adding to this, I am committed to running this marathon for the a National Brain Appeal. 

Thank you for reading my profile.