Sophie Morris
Sophie's London Marathon 2023 fundraising page
Fundraising for Pulmonary Hypertension Association UK
Story
Hopefully, on 23 April 2023, I will finally be running the London Marathon for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association in memory of my school friend Maddy Hardman.
Maddy was born on 28th February 1995 and was diagnosed with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in December 2014 which affected her heart and lungs.
Maddy was due to have intravenous (IV) treatment in January 2016 followed by a lung transplant later on in life, but tragically lost her battle unexpectedly and passed away on 29th December 2015.
Maddy was just 20 years old when she died, and I know her death made many of her school friends, including myself, really realise how important it is to not take life for granted and to always challenge yourself and try new things while you are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to do so.
With this in my mind, I will soon be running my first marathon - over a mile for every year that Maddy got to live before her life was so cruelly taken away.
The most exercise us STAGS girls did at school was running from the Sports Hall to the school bus via the brownie stall, so this is going to be quite the challenge.
Having battled with an unhealthy relationship with food and exercise in my early 20s, and injured my ACL in 2019, this has been and continues to be a great physical and mental test for me.
Maddy's friends have raised an amazing amount of money in her memory so far, and I am honoured to be running the London Marathon in her memory after over three years of training thanks to the COVID pandemic!
The Pulmonary Hypertension Association are the only charity providing support to those with the condition in the UK, and my mission is to join the girls in supporting the charity as much as possible to help others like Maddy.