Shine Charity UK

Ryan, and I’m running the Brighton Marathon on the 6th April 2025.

My daughter Dixie was diagnosed with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus at her 20-week scan, leading to her mum Emily having open fetal surgery at UCLH when she was 24-weeks pregnant. Unfortunately, surgery lead to Emily getting sepsis meaning that Dixie had to be evicted at 26 weeks (for her own safety) in Southampton Princess Anne’s Hospital.

Dixie stayed there for six weeks before spending a further five weeks in Basingstoke Hospital. Here, she caught RSV and ended up back in Southampton in intensive care before finally coming home 14 weeks after she was born!

Dixie had a short stay in Southampton in January to have a VP shunt fitted to help drain the fluid on her brain due to the Hydrocephalus. It was in Southampton that we were introduced to the amazing charity, Shine UK, who have gone above and beyond to make all the experiences Dixie’s Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus throws at us as easy as possible.

The information packs they gave us helped friends and family to understand Dixie’s condition. The WhatsApp group they set up connects us with families who have children facing the same challenges so that we can support each other. From the nurses on site, to the support workers I cannot thanks the guys at Shine enough for the support they’ve shown me and my family.

I’m doing this one little (not so little) marathon to raise funds for Shine UK and spread awareness of the amazing work they do.

So if you would be kind enough to drop a donation no matter the size me and the legend that is Dixie Donnelly would greatly appreciate it