Ross, Dan & Rob's London Marathon for Brain Research UK
Ross MacLeod, Dan Sharp & Rob Higgin
My Story
From Ross & Dan
Life is full of challenges - and running my first marathon at 40 is big one! But it’s nothing compared to the battle faced by Becky Sharp, who has inspired her husband Dan and I to run London 2024 for Brain Research UK. With you behind us, we can help fund research that will provide people with life-changing support – people like Becky.
Dan and I have been friends since working as beach lifeguards together 20 years ago, and have shared many happy memories in that time (from boys’ snow trips to the alps and canal boating stag dos in Birmingham dressed as pirates). Today we are very happily married to amazing women, and so to have 3 beautiful children each. Becky and my wife Deb have also become good friends, so we have all spent plenty of time together, with the kids getting on well and loving nothing more than a day at the beach hut.
But so much changed on the morning of April 11 2023, when Becky was knocked over by a hit-and-run drunk driver whilst she was walking her and Dan’s youngest daughter home after school drop off. Thankfully, baby Lorena was unharmed in her buggy, but the accident left Becky fighting for her life with multiple fractures and a traumatic brain injury. She was airlifted to Southampton Hospital where she received lifesaving care from the NHS - but remained in a coma for two long months.
Family and friends were in complete shock. It was especially hard for Dan, who had to somehow come to terms with what had happened while becoming the primary carer for their three young daughters.
Six months on, Becky is making incredible progress having emerged from her coma in June, with discharge from hospital to a rehabilitation facility now being considered before Christmas. This is nothing short of a miracle. Whilst Becky still has a long road to recovery ahead, there is now genuine hope she will resume a more normal life at home as a mother to Nula, Tilly and Lorena; as a wife to Dan; a daughter to Alan and Jan; sister to her brothers, and a friend to many.
The seamless care Becky has received has been excellent and all underpinned by the type of work Brain Research UK do. The brain is an incredibly complex organ, so understanding more about it will only improve the care and outcomes people like Becky receive. So little about the brain is understood and this entire process has been filled with huge uncertainty for Becky’s family and friends.
From Rob
When you get a phonecall saying someone you love has been hit by a car your world changes, when you arrive at the hospital and see the tubes, the bandages, the machines that go beep or show numbers you are numbed, and when you see your brother-in-law and family lost for words and scared you know it is bad. The worst part is the waiting, or the questions - will she wake up? When? Will she remember us? Will she still be herself? The hardest part is being told: We don’t know. We don’t know if, or when, or who. You just have to wait.
We have been lucky, Becky is awake, Becky is recovering, Becky remembers us…. Some people are still waiting, some people don’t know, many people in the future will face these challenges. I am running with Dan and Ross to help these people, on behalf of both Becky and Dan…. If we can raise money to help unravel the mysteries of the brain and how it heals we will ultimately help people like Becky to recover, to help the husbands like Dan to cope and understand, to help the families and friends like Ross and Myself to provide better support and understanding. Please show your support with a donation if you can and please share our story.
About BRUK
Brain Research UK is the UK’s leading national funder dedicated to research into neurological conditions. They are playing a key role in understanding, improving diagnosis and treatment, and the prevention of neurological conditions. Your support will be focused on three priority research areas where the most impact can be achieved: brain tumours, brain and spinal cord injury, and headache/facial pain. These are areas where there is a large unmet patient need that is not reflected in current funding levels.
So, please help us make a difference and fund life-changing research so people like Becky who are living with neurological conditions can live better, for longer. We promise we’ll give it everything – for you, and for Becky.
Thank you,
Ross, Dan & Rob x
-
Target
£20K
-
Raised so far
£22.9K
-
Number of donors
531
My Story
From Ross & Dan
Life is full of challenges - and running my first marathon at 40 is big one! But it’s nothing compared to the battle faced by Becky Sharp, who has inspired her husband Dan and I to run London 2024 for Brain Research UK. With you behind us, we can help fund research that will provide people with life-changing support – people like Becky.
Dan and I have been friends since working as beach lifeguards together 20 years ago, and have shared many happy memories in that time (from boys’ snow trips to the alps and canal boating stag dos in Birmingham dressed as pirates). Today we are very happily married to amazing women, and so to have 3 beautiful children each. Becky and my wife Deb have also become good friends, so we have all spent plenty of time together, with the kids getting on well and loving nothing more than a day at the beach hut.
But so much changed on the morning of April 11 2023, when Becky was knocked over by a hit-and-run drunk driver whilst she was walking her and Dan’s youngest daughter home after school drop off. Thankfully, baby Lorena was unharmed in her buggy, but the accident left Becky fighting for her life with multiple fractures and a traumatic brain injury. She was airlifted to Southampton Hospital where she received lifesaving care from the NHS - but remained in a coma for two long months.
Family and friends were in complete shock. It was especially hard for Dan, who had to somehow come to terms with what had happened while becoming the primary carer for their three young daughters.
Six months on, Becky is making incredible progress having emerged from her coma in June, with discharge from hospital to a rehabilitation facility now being considered before Christmas. This is nothing short of a miracle. Whilst Becky still has a long road to recovery ahead, there is now genuine hope she will resume a more normal life at home as a mother to Nula, Tilly and Lorena; as a wife to Dan; a daughter to Alan and Jan; sister to her brothers, and a friend to many.
The seamless care Becky has received has been excellent and all underpinned by the type of work Brain Research UK do. The brain is an incredibly complex organ, so understanding more about it will only improve the care and outcomes people like Becky receive. So little about the brain is understood and this entire process has been filled with huge uncertainty for Becky’s family and friends.
From Rob
When you get a phonecall saying someone you love has been hit by a car your world changes, when you arrive at the hospital and see the tubes, the bandages, the machines that go beep or show numbers you are numbed, and when you see your brother-in-law and family lost for words and scared you know it is bad. The worst part is the waiting, or the questions - will she wake up? When? Will she remember us? Will she still be herself? The hardest part is being told: We don’t know. We don’t know if, or when, or who. You just have to wait.
We have been lucky, Becky is awake, Becky is recovering, Becky remembers us…. Some people are still waiting, some people don’t know, many people in the future will face these challenges. I am running with Dan and Ross to help these people, on behalf of both Becky and Dan…. If we can raise money to help unravel the mysteries of the brain and how it heals we will ultimately help people like Becky to recover, to help the husbands like Dan to cope and understand, to help the families and friends like Ross and Myself to provide better support and understanding. Please show your support with a donation if you can and please share our story.
About BRUK
Brain Research UK is the UK’s leading national funder dedicated to research into neurological conditions. They are playing a key role in understanding, improving diagnosis and treatment, and the prevention of neurological conditions. Your support will be focused on three priority research areas where the most impact can be achieved: brain tumours, brain and spinal cord injury, and headache/facial pain. These are areas where there is a large unmet patient need that is not reflected in current funding levels.
So, please help us make a difference and fund life-changing research so people like Becky who are living with neurological conditions can live better, for longer. We promise we’ll give it everything – for you, and for Becky.
Thank you,
Ross, Dan & Rob x
