On Sunday 8 October my amazing sister Rebecca ran 13.1 miles in the Royal Parks Half Marathon, raising funds and awareness for NAITbabies.

We, like most other people, had never heard of NAIT until my son James was born 3 years ago. Shortly after he was born, a midwife found petechiae and bruising all over James’ body and he was taken to neonatal intensive care where a blood test found he had a platelet count of just 2k. Several days and many platelet transfusions later, he was diagnosed with NAIT. Miraculously, James didn’t suffer any bleeds and made a full recovery.

Keen to find out as much about NAIT as I could, I came across NAITbabies, a small, but wonderful charity. With a fantastic support group, I found lots of information to understand the disease and hope that, with treatment, we would be able to have more children. Our second son Charlie was born 4 months ago and the information and support I received from NAITbabies and other NAIT mums to guide me through the treated pregnancy was invaluable.

As there is no prenatal screening, often the first time NAIT is discovered is when an unborn or newborn baby is severely affected. Rebecca has had three boys unaffected by NAIT, but thanks to the information from NAITbabies, my younger sister now knows to get tested.

I was so grateful when Rebecca suggested running to support NAITbabies and help them to continue their wonderful work. She ran so well and thanks to our generous family and friends she raised over £400!

Jo Adam

Visit Rebecca’s fundraising page here