My Story

I’m running the London Marathon for Mind in Bexley because mental health is still something too many people suffer with in silence.

Growing up, I lost a close friend to suicide. He was struggling, but he didn’t feel able to talk. That loss changed me forever. It showed me how dangerous silence can be and how easily people can fall through the cracks when they feel they have to carry everything alone.

Every day, I see people men, women, young and old holding in pain they don’t know how to share. I’ve felt it myself. We live in a world where it often feels easier to say “I’m fine” than to admit we’re not.

But this didn’t start with us.

I was lucky in ways I didn’t understand at the time I had support around me, even when I couldn’t see it. But growing up in the UK with a foreign background, living between two cultures, was confusing and heavy.
The clash of values, expectations, what’s “right” in one world and “wrong” in another it shapes you. It stays with you.

Our parents who came here had no support systems. No guidance. No one to explain how to navigate a new country, a new language, a new way of life. They carried everything alone. And if they’d had the support people have today, their lives and ours could have been very different.

Now the pressure has only grown.

This new generation is facing a world that moves too fast, demands too much, and offers everything instantly but gives very little time to breathe, reflect, or heal. Patience is disappearing. Creativity is fading. Connection is being replaced by constant noise.

And people are breaking under it.

This is also something I’ve always wanted to do, not just for myself, but for the generations to come. I want to show them that they can achieve anything they set their mind to. I’ve been someone in my family who has broken many “firsts,” and I want the next generation to go even further than I ever could. I hope my children will be proud!

That’s why I’m running.

I’m running to raise awareness.
To help break the stigma.
And to support Mind in Bexley, so they can continue being there for those who feel they have nowhere else to turn.

If this run helps even one person feel less alone, then every mile is worth it.

Thank you for standing with me and with everyone who needs to know they’re not alone.