Craigs London Marathon Journey

I grew up thinking i wasn’t normal. With a whole left side that was numb, and a left hand that did not work properly, there just wasn’t the awareness of Cerebral Palsy in primary medical services back then - and with minimal physiotherapy support as a younger child, and the repeated advice as i grew up of ‘use it or lose it’ / ‘use your hand more and it will get stronger’ - there was no other healthcare intervention.

It was only in my mid 30’s during a period of severe nerve pain that i was offered an MRI of my head and a subsequent diagnosis of a perinatal injury with left skeletal hemiatrophy (essentially slightly shorter limbs on my left side, an uneven skeleton!), sensory loss, and mild dyspraxia. Finally some answers and a diagnosis that falls under the umbrella of Cerebral Palsy - which affects every person differently but that essentially is caused by brain injury occurring in the time immediately around birth.

These days general awareness of Cerebral Palsy is much more common, stigma around the condition is slowly reducing, and particularly paediatric healthcare for children with CP is rightly so much better. However many people get to 18 and are then discharged from paediatric care, and left in the wilderness with no real healthcare support and no recognition that CP is a lifelong condition which often has a degenerative effect on the body as it ages. There are over 130,000 adults in the UK living with CP.

Stumbling across a charity called The Adult Cerebral Palsy Hub (now called UP - the Adult Cerebral Palsy Movement) around the time of my own diagnosis, their mission of empowering adults living with cerebral palsy to lead full, active lives through equitable access to healthcare, strong community support, and meaningful advocacy really resonated with my personal experiences and this spurred me on to start fundraising for them and other CP related charities through the car club that i run and in previous running races that i have participated in. So far, with the generosity of all my supporters and the car club community we have raised over £ 7,000.

So for my next challenge, a 2nd (and last) marathon! A marathon is the ultimate test of endurance (well, for me at least!) and i am privileged to be representing Up in the London Marathon in 2027 - the biggest and best race on the planet! Thanks so much for your support during my journey to the big day, your faith really does inspire me to keep going. Enough talking, i best get out running! 🏃‍♂️‍➡️