My Story

At the end of February 2025 my niece, Poppy, was very poorly which led to her being admitted to  the PICU at Southampton hospital where she spent 8 days. For four of those days, Poppy was put into an induced coma and on life support during which time she also suffered a collapsed lung.

There is an incredible charity called the Ronald Mc Donald House Charities (RMHC) who have 14 houses up and down the UK which offer support and accommodation for families with critically ill children. The one at Southampton provided my brother and sister-in-law a place to stay and prepare meals at no cost during this difficult time for them and their families. Being on site meant that day or night they were only ever a 5 minute walk away from the PICU ward where Poppy was being cared for by the amazing intensive care team.  

It was such a horrid time and the days in hospital are so long but RMHC became home for all of us - we were able to use their communal facilities as a family to cook and enjoy meals together which gave us all some sort of normality and support by being together. We had never heard of the charity before and were utterly blown away by the facilities. 

Thankfully Pops is recovered and much better, but we are all so thankful to the RMHC, and I am so grateful and feel so privileged to be running the 2026 London Marathon for this amazing charity, and as part of my fundraising I have designed a special children's art print ~ an elephant in Pjs with the colours of the RMHC logo ~ and £10 from the sale of each print will be donated to this fundraising page. 

I would be so grateful for any donations even if you don’t want to buy a print.

More information about this charity can be found here:

https://rmhc.org.uk/about-rmhcuk/

Thank you so much in advance, 

Tilly xxx