Running The Richmond Marathon For Charity

I signed up to run my first marathon early in this year, which will be the Richmond Park marathon 21/05/23. Originally, I signed up to do this mainly to push my own limits and see if I could beat the 42km distance. However, recently someone close to me suffered a humerus fracture. Following this, she had to have a plate fitted surgically, which has lead to secondary radial nerve palsy. Since then, they have had to have a second surgery to explore the nerve to see the cause of the defect, thankfully a site of compression was seen and this has been decompressed by a neurosurgeon. They're showing signs of improvement in their wrist drop and hand extension with intense physio, but their recovery is ongoing a month ahead of the original injury.

For a long time, I considered the impact of this injury being permanent. This consideration was terrifying for me and for the person affected. They are currently a surgeon in training... So, this injury could have stopped them from ever doing this profession. These thoughts have lead to weeks of depressive thoughts and discussions about their future. This injury has lead to a loss of independence and control in their life and tremendously affected their mental health.

I consider ourselves rather fortunate that we now see a road to recovery. Yet this experience has lead me to empathise with those that have irreversible nerve injury, whether it be central nervous issues or peripheral nerve injuries, these things affect a person's quality of life greatly. That's why I'm choosing to raise funds through running this marathon in aid of The Brain Charity, who support people who live with neurological defects to live a happier fuller life.