- L
- C
- D
Multiple Sclerosis-The Rat Run convoy
0% complete
£5,040 raised of
110 donations
Carl Sutcliffe's and Donna's daughter
THE RAT RUN — 1,400 MILES, A £600 CAR & A VERY PERSONAL REASON ❤️
updates on whimsyways_
TIKTOK
Can a £600 car make it 1,400 miles from Liverpool to Benidorm in just five days?
— a crazy charity challenge involving around 250 cars, all setting off on their own adventures, pushing their cheap cars to the absolute limit while raising as much money as possible for charity.
Our challenge is simple…
Liverpool ➡️ Benidorm
1,400 miles
5 days
£600 car
One massive adventure!
But for us, this isn’t just about the drive.
It’s about Scarlett. ❤️
Scarlett is helping me and Mark decorate the car. She wanted to give her own time to the challenge because she wants to help raise awareness of the cruel condition she lives with every single day.
You see, five days before Christmas, on 20th December 2024, at just 15 years old, Scarlett was given news that no child should ever have to hear.
“You have multiple sclerosis.”
There are more than 130,000 people living with MS in the UK, but only around 250 are children.
Scarlett is one of those 250.
And her diagnosis didn’t come after years of knowing what was wrong.
It came completely out of the blue.
Although, looking back, there had been signs for years. Trips to the doctors. Trips to hospital. Questions that never seemed to have an answer.
Then, in September 2024, Scarlett became really ill after catching a virus from her brother. We thought she’d caught a particularly nasty cold or possibly COVID.
Around six weeks later, we thought she had a migraine.
But over the weekend it didn’t go away.
Then Monday came.
And suddenly, everything changed.
One of Scarlett’s eyes had turned inwards.
We rushed her to A&E.
Hours passed.
Eventually, around 12:30am, we were told to take her to an optician.
We frantically searched for an appointment for the following day and managed to get one at Specsavers in St Helens.
The optician took one look at Scarlett and made an urgent referral to the eye hospital.
By Thursday, the hospital had contacted us.
The appointment was arranged for Monday.
But Scarlett was getting worse.
She was partially blind.
She had double vision.
She was dropping things.
And she was terrified.
She begged me to get her seen sooner.
We called the eye hospital again, explained what was happening, and thankfully they agreed to see her the following day.
After examining her, they made an emergency call to Whiston Hospital.
She needed a CT scan as soon as possible.
We drove her there ourselves because it was only around ten minutes away.
The CT scan was inconclusive.
An MRI was arranged for the Monday.
We waited.
And waited.
Then the results came back.
There were white patches on Scarlett’s brain.
The doctors weren’t expecting them.
One doctor even questioned whether the MRI machine had malfunctioned.
The scans were sent to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
We were initially told to go home.
Then, around an hour later, the phone rang.
“You need to bring Scarlett back immediately.”
She needed a lumbar puncture and steroid treatment.
At that point, the doctors believed she had acute disseminated encephalomyelitis — inflammation affecting her brain and the nerve to her eye.
Scarlett was admitted to the children’s ward.
She needed cannulas in both hands.
She was sedated for the procedure.
The lumbar puncture couldn’t be completed that evening, so the following morning she was taken to theatre under a general anaesthetic.
The lumbar puncture went well.
Then, almost immediately after returning to the ward, she was taken for another MRI — this time with contrast.
We spent six nights in hospital.
Scarlett received steroid treatment and a whole list of other medications.
Eventually, we were allowed home.
We went home with our arms full of medication and our heads full of questions.
Slowly, week by week, Scarlett’s eyesight began to improve.
Her eye straightened.
We thought we were heading in the right direction.
Then came the appointment at Alder Hey.
We genuinely thought it was just going to be a follow-up.
Instead, we sat in a room with the neurologist and nurse while four more doctors joined remotely.
Scarlett was put through a series of tests — walking, balance, strength and reflexes.
The results were discussed between the doctors.
Then Scarlett was told to sit down.
And the bombshell came.
“This is relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.”
Scarlett was just 15.
Our world changed in that moment.
MS is rare in children.
There is currently no cure.
And Scarlett will live with this condition for the rest of her life.
Today, she receives intravenous treatment every six months. The treatment targets the particular white blood cells that attack her nervous system.
When she turns 18, she’ll be transferred to Walton Neurological Hospital, where her treatment will continue.
Because MS is so rare in children, treatment options are limited.
Thankfully, things are going well at the moment.
But we don’t know what the future holds.
And despite everything, Scarlett still deals with daily pain, fatigue, problems with her memory and symptoms that become worse in the heat.
Yet somehow, despite all of this…
Scarlett keeps going.
She gets upset.
She struggles.
Some days are harder than others.
And that’s okay.
But then she gets back up and does what she can.
She has even gone on to volunteer as an ambassador for children and young people living with MS.
And that is why seeing her now helping me and Mark decorate this ridiculous little £600 car means so much.
She isn’t just sitting on the sidelines.
She’s getting involved.
She’s donating her own time.
She’s helping us raise awareness.
And she’s helping us raise money for the MS Society, an organisation that supports people living with MS, funds research and campaigns for change.
So when that little £600 car leaves Liverpool, it won’t just be carrying me and Mark.
It will be carrying Scarlett’s story.
It will carry every person living with MS who is hoping for better treatments.
It will carry the hope that one day there will be a cure.
And it will hopefully carry a message to thousands of people who have never really understood what MS can do to someone’s life.
So…
1,400 miles.
5 days.
£600 car.
250 crazy cars.
One hell of an adventure.
And one very special reason for doing it.
Let’s get this little car to Benidorm!
If you’d like to support us, every single donation matters, no matter how big or small.
Together, can we help make a difference?
Can we be strong enough to stop MS?
A massive thank you to everyone who has already supported us, and a very special thank you to 21D Full Mouth Rehabilitation and Computer-Guided Full Jaw Dental Implants, and to Dr Vijay, for his incredibly generous £1,000 donation.
Vijay has known our family for many years, and that £1,000 donation has given our fundraising a fantastic start.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. ♥️
Thank you so much to Premier Gym St Helens for your sponsorship. It really does mean a lot to us and to Scarlett.
You’ve been such a positive influence on our family. All of the members have been fantastic and have really helped Miles gain confidence, especially the way you’ve all taken him under your wing. It means more to us than you probably realise.
Scarlett is also very touched by your ongoing support and kindness. Having people like you behind her makes such a difference.
Thanks again for everything. We really appreciate it and we’ll see you soon! ❤️
And if you’ve got this far…
Thank you for taking the time to read Scarlett’s story.
Now let’s see what this £600 car is made of!
Scarlett has a tiktok page where she would love to thank you all
whimsyways_
Organizer
