A cold shiver runs down John Morsley’s spine whenever he thinks why he’ll be running a virtual London Marathon again this year – and praying for the miracle that will cure his wife’s daughter, Anna.
She lives in New South Wales, Australia, where after coming down with M.E. two years ago, she now doesn’t know whether her next crash will be the one she doesn’t get over.
Previously sports-mad and very active, Anna told John and his wife after they visited Australia last year: “It’s scaring us how bad I actually am and how I can’t do anything about it. It can take weeks or months to recover even some of the ground lost.
“Trying not to crash is the priority here. We don’t know, but my next crash could be one I don’t recover from.”
The 63-year-old veteran of 13 full London Marathons and his first virtual one after he was unsuccessful in the public ballot two years ago said: “Waiting for a medical miracle to happen doesn’t feel like an option.”
So, for the second year in a row, John has put other charities he has supported in the past behind him and chosen once again to raise money exclusively for our Ramsay Research Fund which puts fire into the belly of a lot of M.E. research in the UK.
Even though he will be running far away from the madding crowd on 23rd April, John – a chartered quantity surveyor on the Docklands Light Railway – is leaving nothing to chance in his training.
He is regularly pounding the streets of his home town of Hayes, near Bromley, to get race fit once again.
“Anna remains my inspiration and motivation for this solo marathon.
“Our time together in Australia had to be very limited, activities cut out and still this did not prevent her suffering a “crash” which left her bed bound.
“Sadly, post-exertional malaise can hit suddenly and unexpectedly from almost anything good or bad, physical or cognitive – no matter how much you try to prepare and manage the hazards.”
If you would like to try and help John limit those hazards for future generations by putting a donation into his Ramsay Research fundraising account, please visit:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/John-Morsley1
IMPORTANT NOTICE
For people with ME/CFS who are thinking about taking on a physical fundraising challenge, or if you are organising an event that might involve people with ME/CFS, please read this notice from Neil Riley, Chairman of the ME Association.
Tony Britton
Senior Fundraising Consultant, The ME Association
tony.britton@meassociation.org.uk Mob: 07393 805566
