Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page, where I'm fundraising for Mind in the lead up to the 2024 London Landmarks Half Marathon.

The 2024 LLHM marks my return to half marathons after five years - and also takes place on April 7th, the five year anniversary of my younger brother's death, which is why I chose to run in support of Mind.

Everybody knows someone who has struggled with their mental health, whether they're vocal about it or not. My family has a history of addiction and depression and while I began running as an outlet in high school my younger brother fell into drug use.

He struggled with his addiction for just under 10 years, going to rehab and halfway houses and meetings amid periods of being clean and periods of relapse. Through the course of our teenage and young adult years it was tough to see someone I loved so dearly struggle the way Ross did; although I'm the older sibling we always joked that we were twins born two years apart, and had been each others' best friends since he was born.

Fast forward to March 2019. I'd been living in the UK for a few years and began running half marathons, and I was running in support of Macmillan at the 2019 LLHM. Ross and I were messaging after I finished, and making plans for when we could video chat next.

That call never happened. Instead, two weeks to the day after the race, I got the call that Ross had accidentally overdosed.

The first few months passed in a state of existence rather than living, the haze of my grief too thick to push through. Around his birthday, in December 2019, the pain set in and I found myself back in counselling - the first time since my early 20s.

In the years since I've been able to take back control of my mental health with the support of my counsellors, family, doctors and friends. I firmly believe that if it weren't for that, I would still be struggling so much more. There are still bad days but they're fewer and further between - and I've been able to enjoy exercise and running again.

I wanted to return to the LLHM to honour Ross on the 5th anniversary of his passing, and to honour myself and the progress I've made on my own mental health journey. And while Mind doesn't just help those dealing with addiction, the work they do is truly changing countless lives - it felt like the right choice.

If Ross had had access to mental health resources and support like that Mind provides before he became addicted to drugs his story may have had a different outcome and we could have that post-race phone call next April. While I can't turn back time and get him the help he needed, I'm happy to do what I can by fundraising for Mind, so they can support those still here.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope you can donate - any amount helps - but even if you can't, sharing with your friends and family will be a huge help! I'll be posting updates on my training and of course on race day itself.