A local Mum is lacing up her trainers to get ready for the London2Brighton challenge, where she’ll run 100km from the capital to the coast, on Saturday 26 May to raise money for The Sick Children’s Trust.

Jessica Hamer, 37, from Henley-on-Thames, is on a fundraising mission to raise £1,000 to thank the charity that supported her family with free ‘Home from Home’ accommodation when her son, Ethan, required lifesaving treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).

Twins Rose and Ethan Ucar were born six weeks prematurely at the John Radcliffe Hospital, close to the family’s home in Oxfordshire. While Rose had no health issues, her brother, Ethan, was diagnosed with a series of complex conditions. These included coronary heart disease, a serious heart defect in which his heart hadn’t developed properly.

Despite these conditions, Ethan made it back home at just five weeks old, one week after his sister had been discharged. However, whilst Rose grew stronger and began to flourish, Ethan’s health deteriorated and he struggled to gain weight and at six months he was admitted to Great Ormond Street Hospital, miles away home, for major heart surgery. It was during this traumatic time that Ethan’s parents, Jessica and Alper, along with baby Rose, were given a room at Rainbow House, free ‘Home from Home’ accommodation run by The Sick Children’s Trust. This meant that the whole family were never more than a few minutes away from Ethan’s hospital bedside.