INTRODUCTION

Dear Family and Friends,

As a lot of you already know, on the 10th of September of 2009 our nephew Ethan was born in Boston, and within minutes of his birth he was diagnosed Apert's Syndrome.

Apert syndrome is a rare genetic mutation in approx. 1 in 200,000 births that when it occurs causes the fusion of the hands and feet as well as premature fusion of the sutures in the skull. Ethan will face considerable challenges as he grows to minimize the effects of this condition.

So far Ethan has impressed all of us and doctors as positive about his development. His first major challenge will be to undergo surgery at two and half months to release the prematurely fused sutures of the skull ensuring the brain grows and develops naturally. This will take place in Boston's Children's Hospital.

The journey ahead will be long and challenging and although we cannot take his place and alleviate all that he will go through we are committed to giving Ethan the best shot of having the care and opportunity he needs to lead a normal life. We are also committed to raising awareness of Aperts Syndrome and making an effort towards funding research into it's treatment.

As part of this commitment Levi and myself have decided to Run the Lisbon Half Marathon being held on the 21st of March 2010 to raise funds, which we have never done before, so we will really need help. You can help by making any contribution, no donation is too small:


Some giving ideas that might interest you:
(i) An amount for completing the Half Marathon
(ii) An amount per Km logged - in training or in the race
(iii) 10,09€ -because Ethan was born on 10/09
(iv) 6€ - Ethan's PICU was n.º 6
(vi) 6,11€ Ethan's age in months and days on the 21st of September

Close friends have said «you must be crazy!» and remembering school days when I actually got a detention for hiding behind a tree during cross-country with a group of fellow runnerfobics....I have to agree that it's going to be a big challenge! We will not beat any of the Kenyans this year, but we will be winners with Ethan in this challenge.


It is super easy to sponsor us: just send me an email and I will send you the details

Here you can also catch up on the latest news on Ethan, and keep an eye on how our training is coming along. Comments and feedback will be much appreciated

We'd also love to have any supporters there on the big day, so please don't hesitate to postition yourselves along the route!! [Levi isn't quite sure about that!]


Once again thank you for your support. .