We are grateful to have been given the opportunity to run the London Marathon 2023 for a charity close to our families hearts. 

In 2016, aged 8, our younger brother Rico sadly contracted a rare form on Meningococcal Septicaemia. In a matter of hours he was rushed to Glenfield Hospital, Leicester intensive care unit and placed quickly into an induced comma. After 5 days of not knowing whether he would survive, we were told he would wake but life would be very different for him. Due to severe thrombosis in his legs caused by the Septicaemia, shortly after waking, Rico was transferred to Leicester Royal Infirmary to undergo a series of amputations to his lower limbs. Following multiple gruelling surgeries he was transferred back to Peterborough, our home town, to recover in the Children's Amazon Ward.

During the long months spent bed-bound in hospital, Rico would often undergo regular painful dressing changes and additional skin grafts in order to keep the fresh wounds clean and able to heal fully. As Rico has progressed through his childhood and grown with age, it has been difficult to find comfortable prosthetic to meet his needs, often travelling long distances for specialist appointments due to pain in his back and spine. 

Although the physical scars may have healed, it's often the mental and emotional scars that linger. Now 15 years old, Rico has found it difficult to find his place amongst his peers due to missing vital years of his development and school life. Rico is currently undergoing assessments and brain scans as specialists believe he may have suffered an Acute Brain Injury caused by the Meningitis. Despite being 6 years on from the dreadful day, the ripples of Meningitis can still be felt throughout the family each and every day. 

The fight for a Meningitis free world continues.