london marathon

[p]So, it’s official, I am running London Marathon 2019! [/p][p] [/p][p]It's always been a dream of mine, and because I know it will be such a huge challenge, I wanted to run for a charity that I am passionate about. And one that's very personally close to my heart is Headway, a brain injury trust based in Guildford.[/p][p] [/p][p]Here's why...[/p][p]29 years ago - in May 1989, our lives changed forever when my mum got the call to say that my brother, Simon aged 14 had been knocked off his bike by scaffold truck, whilst doing his paper-round. [/p][p] [/p][p]We had no clue how serious it was, and rushed straight to the hospital. When we arrived and heard the words 'critical', 'intensive care' and 'coma' we knew things were bad. As an 11-year-old it was so frightening to watch - I can still remember the smell on the ward, the sound of beeping machines the maze of wires that were going in and out of my brother's body; he looked so helpless.[/p][p][br][/p][p] From that moment on, Simon's fight began, and my god did he fight.[/p][p][br][/p][p] We nearly lost him several times over the next month, and we prepared ourselves for the worst. We waited anxiously for the doctors to determine how severe Simon's brain injury was, and watched them monitor what brain activity remained - if any at all. What quality of life would Simon have if he did pull through? At this stage, no one could tell us.[/p][p] [/p][p] After several long weeks, Simon was brought out of his coma and his rehabilitation began - and what an incredibly difficult journey that was. He went from literally rocking in the corner, to learning to walk, talk and feed himself. [/p][p]He eventually came home home to continue his rehabilitation.[/p][p]Returning to school brought many problems, as he had to re-learn how to read and write again. It was one of his most difficult times, as he had to sit his GCSE’s which was a huge challenge for Simon. We were proud that he could hold a pencil, let alone sit an exam![/p][p][br][/p][p] During this incredibly tough journey, we were put in touch with Headway and they were simply amazing. They taught us what brain injury is, and explained the impact it has on the whole family, not just Simon.[/p][p][br][/p][p]We started to visit their centre on a regular basis and met other families of brain injury victims. At first this was daunting as some of these cases were far more serious than ours, but it gave us a much bigger understanding of what to expect, so we could prepare ourselves for Simons rehabilitation.[/p][p][br][/p][p]Headway offered us words of support and the team were always there to answer any questions or concerns we had. It was also somewhere that we could go and take Simon and he could interact with other brain injury patients and families - it was chance for us to be around a support network that really understood what we were going through as a family. Headway really did make a huge a difference. [/p][p][img]https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif[/img][/p][p][br][/p][p] Thankfully, our ending was a happy one and Simon has now made a full recovery. That's not to say he still hasn't a few challenges to deal with, but he now works full time as a Greenkeeper on a golf course, is a fitness fanatic and works out several times a week. He lives independently and I am so proud of his courage and the fact that he never gave up. [/p][p][br][/p][p] So now you can see why Simon and Headway are so important to me and the reason why I'm running the marathon. [/p][p][br][/p][p] Please help me reach my target and donate to Headway. It's the most amazing charity that supported and helped Simon and all of my family through the toughest time of our loves. I would love to raise as much money as possible to help other people and their families that are suffering from brain injuries. Thankyou x [/p][p][br][/p][p][br][/p]