In the past I have ran races for a number of charities for various reasons. In 2006 I ran for The Antony Nolan trust, paying for a golden bond entry into the London Marathon, I have also ran for Unicef and other cancer charities.
Choosing to run for a charity should be a very carefully considered decision. In many cases the only way to get into some major city marathons is via a guaranteed place similar to the golden bond system operated by the London Marathon. Indeed, when I first ran for a charity I had some misgivings, what was my motivation? Was I only running for a charity because I wanted to get into the Marathon or did I really believe in what the charity was doing and wanted to support it?
I've always found the fund raising aspect to these events difficult, it's something I'm not naturally predisposed to doing so I feel it's necessary to give some background to why I have selected
Action Duchenne as my charity for this years Virgin London Marathon.
When I returned to London after living in Germany for nearly two years, I decided that I wanted to become a teacher. I felt though, that I wanted first to gain some experience working in a school so I worked through a temping agency, eventually found myself working at Brent Knoll School in Sydenham, South East London. Brent Knoll is a special educational needs school though the pupils there were generally classed as having mild learning disorders (MLD) that would have impaired their progress in a mainstream school. In fact some of the students in the school didn't actually have MLD's at all, but required one-to-one support due to being incapacitated in some way.
My job at Brent Knoll was to provide one-to-one learning support to a lad called Adam who was affected by Duchenne's muscular dystrophy, a degenerative disease where the sufferer gradually becomes less and less able to move themselves. Adam required one-to-one class room assistance but also required hydro and physiotherapy as well as occupational therapy.
I had never worked so closely with a single student before and not surprisingly establishing a good relationship with Adam, his teachers and his family was essential. In doing so, I gained an insight into what it was like, the challenges faced by his family, and Adam himself. At the end of the day I went home, but Adam's family carried on.
We all worked as hard as we could to make Adam's school and home life as comfortable as possible. I joined the school when Adam was at the end of his year 8 and continued to work with him throughout his year 9. It was a time when I saw Adams condition worsen as he grew and as he did so he became more aware of what was happening.
Adam was a highly intelligent and outgoing person, with a terrific sense of humor and like me, an avid Charlton Athletic supporter. The School was fortunate enough to have been donated a couple of season tickets by Charlton which meant that Adam and sometimes myself could go to watch a match. It was the Premiership years for Charlton so there were no shortage of decent games to watch and come Monday morning we would spend some time analysing, celebrating or commiserating each other on the Addicks performances. It was through our shared love of Charlton that we bonded and got to know each other. The school and my life outside of it became interlinked, indeed, while at Brent Knoll School I also met my future wife.
My time at Brent Knoll came to an end. I had been offered a place at Goldsmiths University on their teacher training course but I was also offered a teaching job in Japan. I decided to take the Japanese job and soon after leaving Brent Knoll I found myself in Fukuoka, Japan. With hindsight going to Japan was a mistake, within 10 months I returned to London due to a family member having a terminal illness and while I briefly rejoined Brent Knoll School I had difficulties coping with a number of things going on in my life. Adam himself had not changed and had a new one-to-one assistant. I had to reapply for my Goldsmiths place then had to wait two years before I could start my course.
Duchenne Muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a terrible condition. Sufferers degenerate, losing muscle strength and so rarely live into their 20's. Sufferers struggle to fight off infectious diseases and it was about this time last year, perhaps a bit earlier, that I discovered that Adam had died suddenly and unexpectedly on Christmas Eve 2010.
There are always stories of men with DMD living into their 20's, it is possible, so you always hope that the person you know will be one of those but it's always at the back of your mind that they may not make it that far. I miss my time with Adam, I sit in the North Upper at Charlton and there hasn't been a match in the last year where I don't look over to where he used to sit, either in the North West quadrant or by the tunnel besides the pitch half expecting to see him there.
I consider it an honor and a privilege to have worked with and shared a small part of Adam's life.
Last year I had my place on the Marathon but following an injury during my training build up I decided to withdraw. With my 2011 place deferred for a year I decided very quickly to contact Action Duchenne and let them know I wanted raise some money for them. I have been struggling through the early part of my training with the normal cold's and flu we all get this time of the year but my motivation both for the London Marathon and my fundraising has been inspired by Adam's life.
