Emilia (L 12-16) and Annabel Tyser (L 14-18) To Run Northumberland Coastal Marathon For Charity
In February of next year, Emilia (left) and Annabel (right) will be taking part in the Northumberland Coastal Marathon to raise money for The Butterfly AVM Charity Ltd. Although initially planning to compete for sheer satisfaction of completing a marathon, Emilia decided it would be a wasted opportunity if she weren’t to do so by also raising money for a charity close to her heart. With this to motivate her, her sister Annabel immediately signed up too.
“It is often not until someone close to you experiences an illness, that you become fully aware of it,” Emilia says. “I admittedly had not heard of an AVM until July 2014, when a dear family friend of ours, Amy Izat, had a Subarachnoid Haemorrhage from a right parietal/occipital Artero-Venous (AVM).”
An AVM is an abnormal tangle of blood vessels connecting arteries and veins, which disrupts normal blood flow and oxygen circulation.
Since then, along with numerous operations, “[Amy] has suffered through daily migraines, fatigue, shunt pain, anxiety, visual disturbances and post-traumatic stress, as well as trying to get used to being half blind in both eyes. Not only has Amy physically endured utter exhaustion and pain, the rarity of her case has also meant that there has been a lack of emotional support and unanswered questions, which leaves her in a position of uncertainty and fear; which no 25-year-old should be in.
Despite everything she has gone through and continues to go through, Amy has remained positive and as-ever her kind and loving self; never letting her illness define who she is. She is also a brilliant artist and continues to produce stunning drawings.”
The Butterfly charity has been set up to raise awareness of AVMs and to help with the research in finding a cure, in order to help reduce the exhausting and frightening journey of those undergoing treatment, and to make this treatment faster and more effective. Today, another person will almost certainly be having to go through the torment of the healing process and worse still, the majority who suffer bleeds in the brain from an AVM, will never make it.
Emilia and Annabel have set a £500 fundraising target for their run and at the time of writing are 58% of the way to reaching this target.
For more information or to help Emilia and Annabel achieve their goal, please click here. Best of luck, ladies!
