I'm running 55k (34 miles) for Pilgrims Way Challenge to raise £550+ for Pilgrims Hospice, plus donations for Give Blood.

Last year, following what should have been a routine procedure, I ended up in hospital for a week with severe internal bleeding.

In the lead-up, I was probably in the best physical condition I’ve ever been in. No anaesthesia, heart rate steady at around 58 throughout, and I left with a clear bill of health. For nearly 48 hours, there were no signs anything was wrong.

Then everything changed.

Internal bleeding had only a 1 in 500 chance of occurring.

At A&E, the consultant — who happened to be the same person who had carried out the original procedure — recommended a blood transfusion.

I really didn’t want one.

Partly because I tend to avoid medicines and unnecessary interventions, but it went deeper than that.

Years earlier, my mum was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an inheritable heart condition. That diagnosis shaped much of our lives: years of ECGs and MRI scans for me and my siblings, complicated insurance questions, and a blanket restriction on donating blood.

In 2011, when I was 25, my mum passed away at just 46 following pneumonia. After the autopsy, it emerged that the original diagnosis had been wrong. It wasn’t an inherited condition at all, but a congenital defect.

Later, I tried to sign up to give blood.

That meant months of back-and-forth: digging through old hospital records, getting my GP to update my medical history, and revisiting a lot of paperwork that wasn’t easy to sift through, mentally or emotionally.

Eventually, I was accepted.

Before this hospital stay, I’d managed to donate blood three times.

So when I was told I might need a transfusion, I was incredibly reluctant because once you've had one, they don't allow you to give blood any more. I had worked so hard to finally be in a position to donate, and the thought of needing a transfusion, or never being able to give blood again was too much.

Instead, I pushed for watchful waiting — hoping the bleeding had passed and that I could recover slowly on my own.

And there was hope. For about 15 minutes, the bleeding appeared to settle and everyone was cautiously optimistic. Within 30 minutes it returned with a vengeance, and I was being prepped for transfer to Kent & Canterbury for an embolisation.

And while on the table, thankfully the bleeding had stopped, but I had stroke-like symptoms. Once the stroke team had assessed me and ruled out any ongoing risk, they said I could be discharged — still having avoided the transfusion.

But three days later, my haemoglobin levels continued to fall to dangerously low levels. I had simply lost too much blood for the rest of my body to function properly.

Two units of blood and an iron transfusion later, I was out of the woods.

No stroke. No further bleeding. No long-term effects.

Back at William Harvey, my consultant talked me through just how unusual the sequence of events had been — especially for someone otherwise healthy — and that it would trigger a wider investigation to help prevent this from happening to someone else who might not recover in the same way.

Then he said something that I am sure was a little in jest "Dont worry, we will have you running the Pilgrims Way Challenge next year"... it stuck with me!

55k from Dover to Canterbury to Wye this June, raising money for Pilgrims Hospices. Last year, the challenge raised £196,000 to support people across East Kent with skilled, compassionate end-of-life care.

I always said I’d never run a marathon.

But apparently an ultra is fair game.

So this feels like the right challenge: rebuilding my strength, raising money for an incredible charity supporting people through some of the hardest moments in life, and raising awareness of just how important giving blood is.

One donation can save up to three lives. You can register, check eligibility and book an appointment to donate – click here.

I’d love to raise £10 for each kilometer, it's a very good cause, but more importantly (and perhaps a little ambitious) 1 unit of blood donated for every kilometre, too.

That’s 55k, 55 units of blood, £550 — and hopefully together we can inspire more people to do the same.

It’ll be a 6+ hour day, and if you’re nearby, you’re very welcome to join me at the finish line.

Please donate, share, and if you can, give blood.

If you're signing up to give blood as a result of this challenge, please log it here to help us track the impact: https://forms.gle/LfJX6KtKY2XdmRcf6