Spring was in the air, and in the soles of their running shoes, when the Barnaville Brothers and friends ran in the Battersea Park Half Marathon on Saturday.
In this fabulous ME Association fundraiser, brothers Chris and Will Barnaville – together with Chris’s girlfriend Harriet Townsend, Tom Dowling and Tom Ray – crested the wave of this very popular event, all of them achieving excellent times.
Missing however was Kieran Barnaville, the brother they did it for! Kieran, who was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in 2016, had hoped to be well enough to cheer them home.
“Kieran wasn't well enough to attend,” said 25-year-old Chris. “But we called him straight after and he was over the moon with everyone's achievements.
“Everyone there had known Kieran before he became ill and has seen his remarkable progress since then – so really wanted to raise some money through a run like this.”
In the early days of his illness, Kieran was totally paralysed and the family had fears that he might not pull through. But since then he has learned how to walk again, talk and has now enrolled for an Open University course.
Kieran is pictured in the inset below on his 21st birthday in December, when Chris and Will took him out for a clay pigeon shoot. They parked Keiran’s wheelchair out of sight for the photo, and Kieran enjoyed taking a few shots from his seat.
Chris, an account executive for a specialist tech company delivering service to law firms round the world, told us last week in the run-up to the event that the family wanted to give something back to the ME Association who had supported them so well these past eight years.
Their South London fundraiser is now racing away and could reach £3,500 soon. If you would like to support it, please visit their JustGiving page at
https://www.justgiving.com/page/chris-barnaville-1694621017789
Tony Britton
Senior Fundraising Consultant, The ME Association
tony.britton@meassociation.org.uk Mob: 07393 805566
