Ted’s Marathon
Donation protected
I turn 40 in September and as I look back at the last decade I realise it has been full of some of the worst times and very best times of my life. I am blessed to have a loving husband, four amazing children and to live in beautiful Devon, close to my parents and lots of brilliant friends.
As I think back a decade when I turned 30 though, my most prominent memory is of how I felt too sick to enjoy it. Only a day or two later I discovered that I was pregnant with my first child Ted and what was to be a rollercoaster ride of hospital appointments, near-death experiences and the feeling of utter hopelessness that is being a parent, powerless to protect their child from ill health and disability.
Thankfully though, I was born in the UK with access to the amazing NHS and paediatricians, physiotherapists, nurses, doctors, neurosurgeons, occupational therapists and speech therapists all on tap. The country where Ted was born meant that he did not die as a premature baby, nor as an infant with an encaphalocele or ensuing hydrocephalus, nor as a nine year old two months ago when he was rushed into neurosurgery to have his shunt unblocked. Being born in the UK has meant he has been able to leave an active and joyful life thanks to the wheelchairs and walkers and glasses and chairs and lying boards and physio therapy and special school education and speech therapy and paid-for activities, all of which he has been blessed with because we live in this wealthy country which aims to treat its most vulnerable with dignity and value.
As I reflect on my 20s, when I was single and able to travel to other nations and work in Uganda for a while, it’s clear that I am one of the lucky ones when it comes to having a disabled child. The majority of children with Ted’s condition of hydrocephalus that can’t get access to relatively simple neurosurgery go on to suffer severe brain damage or death. Parents of children unable to walk may have to carry them out to the fields where they work or leave them unattended where they must lie on their backs for the entire day, unable to even sit up or look around with no access to education or any other opportunities.
As a personal goal in reaching my 40th birthday I am training to run a marathon on Sunday 21st July along with two amazing friends, Jemma and Sarah. As each training run has increased in length, it has been something of a first for each of us - 26.2 miles is still very much unknown territory for each of us! But a more important goal for me is to see what difference we can make for children like Ted who wouldn’t ordinarily get access to the same opportunities he has had - for many these will literally be life-saving.
Please give generously to support our two chosen charities - Cure (https://cure.org/) and Wanjawulo (https://www.wanjawulo.org/). Both are based in Uganda; Cure provides charitable hospitals and programs across 14 countries, serving children and their families in performing simple life saving operations including the sort of neurosurgery Ted has had. Wanjawulo was set up by a few teachers and therapists from Ted’s school in a small community in Busu to work with children very similar to him. Returning annually they have since helped to construct a building as a centre base, set up sign language workshops and taken on three volunteers to run weekly sessions for families living with disabilities tailored to each of their needs.
Thanks so much for your support!
As I think back a decade when I turned 30 though, my most prominent memory is of how I felt too sick to enjoy it. Only a day or two later I discovered that I was pregnant with my first child Ted and what was to be a rollercoaster ride of hospital appointments, near-death experiences and the feeling of utter hopelessness that is being a parent, powerless to protect their child from ill health and disability.
Thankfully though, I was born in the UK with access to the amazing NHS and paediatricians, physiotherapists, nurses, doctors, neurosurgeons, occupational therapists and speech therapists all on tap. The country where Ted was born meant that he did not die as a premature baby, nor as an infant with an encaphalocele or ensuing hydrocephalus, nor as a nine year old two months ago when he was rushed into neurosurgery to have his shunt unblocked. Being born in the UK has meant he has been able to leave an active and joyful life thanks to the wheelchairs and walkers and glasses and chairs and lying boards and physio therapy and special school education and speech therapy and paid-for activities, all of which he has been blessed with because we live in this wealthy country which aims to treat its most vulnerable with dignity and value.
As I reflect on my 20s, when I was single and able to travel to other nations and work in Uganda for a while, it’s clear that I am one of the lucky ones when it comes to having a disabled child. The majority of children with Ted’s condition of hydrocephalus that can’t get access to relatively simple neurosurgery go on to suffer severe brain damage or death. Parents of children unable to walk may have to carry them out to the fields where they work or leave them unattended where they must lie on their backs for the entire day, unable to even sit up or look around with no access to education or any other opportunities.
As a personal goal in reaching my 40th birthday I am training to run a marathon on Sunday 21st July along with two amazing friends, Jemma and Sarah. As each training run has increased in length, it has been something of a first for each of us - 26.2 miles is still very much unknown territory for each of us! But a more important goal for me is to see what difference we can make for children like Ted who wouldn’t ordinarily get access to the same opportunities he has had - for many these will literally be life-saving.
Please give generously to support our two chosen charities - Cure (https://cure.org/) and Wanjawulo (https://www.wanjawulo.org/). Both are based in Uganda; Cure provides charitable hospitals and programs across 14 countries, serving children and their families in performing simple life saving operations including the sort of neurosurgery Ted has had. Wanjawulo was set up by a few teachers and therapists from Ted’s school in a small community in Busu to work with children very similar to him. Returning annually they have since helped to construct a building as a centre base, set up sign language workshops and taken on three volunteers to run weekly sessions for families living with disabilities tailored to each of their needs.
Thanks so much for your support!
Organizer
Ruth Ray
Organizer
