In May, half a dozen of Finlay’s Rosslyn Park team mates who played with him for 14 years (together with a couple of old coaches) will be running the Bristol half marathon in his memory. Here is his story …

At some point in every young retinitis pigmentosa (RP) sufferer’s life the nature of their condition weighs very heavily on them and how they believe it will significantly impact every aspect of their future.

We believe this is what happened to Finlay last year: as he looked forward in his life, all he could see was the negative impact of his condition. He just ran out of hope for what his future with RP could be and this is why, we believe, Finlay took his own life.

Although sight loss would have had a profound impact on Finlay, he would have been able to achieve so much in his life and he would have been a wonderful person to have around. We only wish we could tell him that now.

Fiona, Imi and I never want another young sufferer of RP to ever feel like Finlay did; to lose all hope and to feel that taking their own life is the only solution.

There is a huge volume of negativity around sight loss in our sighted world. We are fundraising specifically to improve the support available to young RP sufferers, to help them grow up to be more optimistic about the impact of their condition and above all, to maintain hope for their future.

If only this had been available, who knows, maybe Finlay would be running the Bristol Half Marathon with Imi as they had planned.

Please help us raise as much money as possible, to help make a difference, to help ensure that no young RP sufferer ever takes their own life again.

Team Finlay are now supporting Retina UK through various fundraisers. Please follow Retina UK on social media & use #TeamFinlay in your posts.

Thank you for your support.