Eva-Maria Buchanan

Hi, my name is Eva and I am seventeen years old. A few years ago, I was fighting for my life. I was diagnosed with abdominal sepsis — a condition with a devastatingly low survival rate. The odds were not in my favour. But the team at Great Ormond Street Hospital refused to give up on me, and somehow, neither did I. Not only did I survive. I came out the other side better than anyone expected. That is not luck. That is the skill, dedication and sheer determination of one of the most extraordinary medical teams in the world. And it is the fight inside a seventeen year old girl who wasn’t ready to stop living. Sepsis left its mark. I still face ongoing surgery and live every day with chronic illness, including POTS. Some days my body makes life harder than it should be. But I have already beaten odds that most people never face and I carry that with me every single day. So in 2027, I have applied to be running the London Marathon. 26.2 miles. Every single step will be a tribute to the GOSH team who fought for me, and to every child and family who walks through those doors needing a miracle. I am not running in spite of everything I have been through. I am running because of it. Every donation goes directly to Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, funding the research, the equipment and the people who make the impossible possible. Thank you for being part of this. It means everything. Nothing and no one will go unnoticed.