Chloe’s run for the National Brain Appeal

Hi all, alongside my dad, I will be running part of the Heathrow midnight marathon. I'll be taking part to raise awareness for the National Brain Appeal, a charity that is very close to my heart as over the years they have done so much for my lovely mum. I am beyond grateful for them.

Please see her story below:

“My Personal story: The 13th September 2015 was the start of the most challenging chapter of my life. My husband and I were on a weekend break in Brussels and had spent the Saturday doing all the sightseeing things with plans for a breakfast meet with friends on the Sunday morning, unfortunately in the early hours of the Sunday morning my incredible husband woke to discover me unresponsive. An ambulance was called and I was rushed to a local hospital, which by chance was a Neurology Hospital, and the Doctor on call instantly recognised that I had suffered some sort of brain trauma. Over the coming days I was intensive care, and following a series of tests including a CT scan, MRI scan and an Angiogram I was diagnosed with a cerebral AVM (a rare neurological condition called Arteriovenous Malformation). After discussions centred around treatment options, one of which was to have surgery in Brussels to remove the AVM, I decided that I wanted to come home and receive any treatments in the UK. I was then airlifted back to the UK and admitted under the care of The National Neurology Hospital, after a period, many tests and discussions it was decided that the best course of treatment was Gamma Knife, as surgical removal or embolisation were not safe options. The Gamma Knife procedure took place one the 23 November 2015 and after 3 1/2, sometimes challenging, years the AVM has gone!

Now starts chapter 2, it has now been confirmed that I have been left with 3 small aneurysms in the brain, 2 are on the left side of the brain and the team are confident that these are as a result of the AVM, the other is on the right side and this ones is a concern. As a result I will be undergoing surgery early in June to ‘clip’ the aneurysm, this is a procedure which will prevent it from bleeding, which would be seriously life threatening. Obviously any form of surgery is not without risks, but I am confident that after this surgery, the expertise and outstanding care from The National Neurology Hospital and my AMAZING family/close friends I will be back on the road to recovery again!”