In April, I was diagnosed with Graves' disease, which caused me to be pretty unwell and off work for a month.

Graves' is an autoimmune disease, which means my own immune system is attacking my body, my thyroid, and causing it to produce too much hormone. It makes my heart beat a lot faster than normal (and sometimes hurts), stops me sleeping, gives me physical anxiety and sweating, and, when unmedicated, causes my legs to be in pain. If I hadn't received treatment, it could have led to serious heart problems, which is terrifying.

I wanted to run the Brighton Marathon to prove to myself that, despite this disease, my body can still do amazing things. I love running, and although Graves has made everything 100x harder, I won't let it stop me!

I'm raising money for the British Thyroid Foundation, who fund research for autoimmune/thyroid diseases and provides information and support. Graves' disease affects about 2% of women and 0.02% of men in the UK, so donations are really needed to find answers for people like me.

I ran the Brighton Marathon back in 2019 to raise money for my late Grandad, who passed from Parkinson's, and I never thought I'd run it again, let alone fundraise for my own illness - but here we are!

It would be amazing to reach my goal of £350, and so any donations (even £1) are greatly appreciated. Thank you so much :) 
  Amy Heather