Road and Trail Marathon Challenge

[p]I have signed myself up to run a road and a trail marathon in August and October respectively. This is quite a challenge, running two marathons (to be honest one is challenge enough) but I will be doing it for Amelia-Rose, whose dream is to walk. She is 4 years old and attends the same school as George (my eldest son) and Amy (my wife) has taught her. Despite all her challenges she never stops smiling. [/p][p]UPDATE: First marathon completed! it was hard work but it was a beautiful day in Bath and worth all the effort for Amelia-Rose.[/p][p]Please sponsor me to help Amelia-Rose get a little closer to her target which will pay for the operation she needs in America.[/p][p]UPDATE: Great news Amelia-Rose has completed two successful SDR and Percs operations in America. The operations are just the first stage of her journey and dream to walk her little sister into school September 2020. Amelia-Rose requires intensive physiotherapy on her return to the UK for the next two years which will have to be paid privately. The NHS are unable to provide the required amount of care for post SDR.[/p][p][br][/p][p]This is a little more information (taken from her own fundraising page)[/p][p][i]Some children dream about what they’d like to be when they grow up. Others dream about meeting their favourite characters. [/i][/p][p][i]One big sister, four year old Amelia-Rose, has just one dream, however. [/i][/p][p][i]Amelia-Rose Walton, from Cheltenham, longs to be able to walk unaided, so she can walk her little sister Chloe the short distance to her first day at school. To proudly take Chloe through the school gates and into the next big stage of her life.[/i][/p][p][i]It’s not an impossible dream.[/i][/p][p][i]Amelia-Rose has been diagnosed with Spastic Paraplegia (HSP) - a degenerative disease that means her limited use of her legs will only get more painful, and mean she is more likely to be consigned to a wheelchair for life. [/i][/p][p][i]It is incredibly rare for this inherited disorder to be diagnosed in somebody so young.[/i][/p][p][i]A life-changing operation in the US would mark the beginning of the realisation of Amelia-Rose’s hopes, and, if able to go ahead, would give her the time she needs to build her strength in time for Chloe to start school in September 2020.[/i][/p][p][i]Mum Tanya and Dad Ben have been fundraising for Amelia-Rose for more than two years, desperately trying to raise enough for the operation, scheduled to go ahead at St. Louis Children’s Hospital on the 29th of August 2019.[/i][/p][p][i]They’ve done an incredible job, raising more than £26,000, in fact, courtesy of some incredibly kind donations.[/i][/p][p][i]The operation, sadly not available on the NHS, costs £36,000. The balance needs to be paid by the 10th July for the treatment to go ahead.[/i][/p][p][i]If the Waltons are able to raise the £10,000 in the 35 days between now and then - the equivalent of £285 each day - Amelia-Rose has every chance of realising her ambition. [/i][/p][p][i]It’s just the start of a long road ahead - with more fundraising for vital yet expensive aftercare necessary in the near-future, but for now, the operation and Amelia-Rose’s first step towards her first unaided steps is all the family are thinking about.[/i][/p][p][i]If the surgery can’t go ahead on the proposed date of August 29th, it will have to be rescheduled for a much later date. Given the nature of the condition, every month that passes means continued degeneration and pain. Her chance of recovery lessens.[/i][/p]