Hey everyone! So, we (Stevo & Mikey) have been accepted to run the 2022 London Marathon! Finally we have a chance to run this iconic run after years and years of not making the ballot!

We asked to run for a charity and we was kindly accepted with Meningitis Research Foundation and we would love to help them achieve their goal of a world free from meningitis and septicaemia.

Meningitis Research Foundation is a very worthy cause as they work on a vaccine to eradicate this awful disease for good.

I  (Stevo) have personally had a bit of history with this horrible illness when back in 2018 I was out for dinner and started to get a headache. Afterwards in the cinema my eyesight went blurry and we had to leave before it started, to get home to bed. After struggling through the night with what seemed like a serious migraine along with a stiff neck and vomiting, i could barely stand up and my brain was all over the place… even more than normal  😜.

Mike and Steph were invited round the next day for dinner and came round as planned in the hope that I was feeling better but I actually had deteriorated more throughout the day. 

After my parents came to see what was happening they instantly took me to A & E where they straight away tried to see what was going on. After a few hours of waiting and tests being done, they came back with suspected Meningitis! I couldn’t believe what I was being told and was in tears as soon as the doctors left me alone and I phoned my wife to give out the scary news.

To confirm the type of Meningitis it was, the docs needed some fluid from the gaps of my spine (lumbar puncture) which was horrific. The doc showed me the long thick needle that they use to filter some fluid from deep in between my spine and it wasn’t an easy procedure. I fell unconscious on the first attempt and woke up to alarms going off and being surrounded by doctors. It seemed that the procedure didn’t work this time and I had to have it again a few hours later which was successful. 

With the results from that, we was happy to see that the meningitis was from an unknown cause and was viral rather than bacterial, bacterial being the more serious of the two. The symptoms of the two are the same until the tests are done so it was a relief when we got some results back. Meningitis swells the lining of the brain, causing a headache like you’ve never encountered and sends your brain crazy with confusion, blurred vision, aching all down your spine, weak body and almost unable to stand up. It’s a truly awful feeling for a few days until the doctors got  it under control. I was on an antiviral drip and others for 4 days in hospital and off work for 2 months and I’m still unsure if my brain fully recovered from it but I’m so lucky with the outcome of this and feel for anyone that has been there. 

It would be a different story if it was bacterial and I’m grateful to be where I am now. People that have had viral meningitis too need support afterwards as it sure does leave some lingering effects.

Fast forward a bit and this was the wake up call i needed to look after myself better and running was the sport of choice.

Mikey and myself have now got into running from complete and utter unfitness and would love to complete the London marathon 2022 for a great charity and a great life achievement for us both.

We’ve pledged to raise £4000 so please dig deep and donate what you can and we would truly appreciate it!

Let the proper training begin! 

Many thanks, Stevo & Mikey.