This year I am running the London Marathon 2024 for the Princess Alice Hospice based in Esher, close to my family home. They provide all of their patient care free of charge, giving palliative and end of life care to adult patients as well as support to their families and friends.

My sister Emily was diagnosed with a diffuse midline glioma brain tumour in January 2018, whilst studying to be a nurse at Nottingham University. This type of tumour is very rare and aggressive, with only 20-30 cases a year affecting children and young adults, and due to the fact brain tumour research is highly underfunded, little is known about cure and treatments. The spend on brain tumour research has increased in recent years, however a cure for this type of rare tumour hasn’t yet been found.

No one to date has survived a midline glioma brain tumour and Emily was given a matter of months to live. Emily, with our parents, travelled to the US and Germany seeking out advanced and new treatments for a cure.

Sadly, due to the tumour’s aggressiveness, Emily was admitted to the hospice in April 2019 for end of life care. I visited the hospice every week whilst Emily was there and the team were always on hand to brighten the day, despite the extremely painful circumstances.

The hospice consistently provided a warm welcome, whether it was the nurses and volunteers keeping us company, or us taking time to process it all in the calm environment. We were able to decorate her room with pictures of happy memories like her 21st birthday party and family holidays. The hospice will always have a special place in my heart. Emily was there for nearly 10 weeks and the hospice allowed a constant stream of friends and family to visit. Emily died peacefully on July 15th 2019 aged 21.

Any donation is greatly appreciated and will go towards the amazing work that the hospice does on a daily basis for families experiencing the same heartache.