Ocelot editor Jamie Hill is planning to run the Birmingham Marathon on October 15 in aid of ICP Support. Every month he’s been chronicling his journey.
This is my daughter Amy Florence Hill who was born prematurely on February 12, 2013 at a tender weight of five pounds. She was a strong girl and despite a low birth weight of just 5 pounds didn’t need any help from the special baby unit for breathing despite being born at 35 weeks. This is unlike her brother George, now 15, who was born a couple of weeks earlier than Amy and needed to be in the unit for the first three months of his life. He weighed 3lb 3oz when he was born at 30 weeks and three days. The middle sister Annabel, born in 2007, was also born prematurely at 32 weeks and five days but although smaller than Amy was also strong enough to not need to go into care. In my mind, there is one reason that we are lucky now to have three beautiful healthy children and that is the charity ICP Support. My wife, Rachel, suffers from something called Intrahepatic Cholestasis in Pregnancy (also known as intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy or ICP) which basically means her liver stops functioning properly during pregnancy. This type of liver damage may occur during the second or third trimester of pregnancy. The risks associated with ICP include an increased risk of premature birth and, before the advent of modern obstetric and new born care, a risk of still births. For those who suffer with the disease it usually manifests itself with itching. Without the help of ICP Support in helping Rachel and I deal with this, there’s a chance that our three children might not be here today and I will be forever grateful for their help. The charity, founded by Jenny Chambers who is also Amy’s Godmother, helped us get the treatment that Rachel sorely needed. They were there every step of the way. But like every charity it can only survive by money that is used to provide the support and to help with the much-needed research into the condition. And that is why I’m doing this marathon. I want to give something back to the people who helped us. I want to help others who are going through what we went through. I’m doing this marathon for myself. I’m doing it for my wife. I’m doing it for my children. But most of all I’m doing it for ICP Support. A charity that I can never be thankful enough to for all they have done for my family. 
Anyone who’s been following my monthly rants in this Running for My Life column since the start of the year will know I’ve been finding it difficult. When I volunteered to do it last October I was an overweight smoker whose idea of a marathon was a Snickers. At the start of the year I weighed 18 stone 4 pounds. I’ve lost a stone and a half since then and plan to lose another stone and a half before the big day - the total amount of three stone is the equivalent of the Easyjet luggage allowance. Smoking, the bane of my life, proved a big challenge. I actually fell off the wagon in March and my training completely dried up but I haven’t smoked a cigarette since then mainly thanks to the discovery of Vaping and colleagues at work. I’m still a nicotine addict but a damn sight healthier one. At the time of writing this I’ve run 10 miles, the most I’ve ever run in my life and with a mile added on per week until the big day, I’ll have run 12 miles by the time you read this. I’ve still got a long way to go and it’s bloody daunting but my mindset is right now and barring injury or trauma I’m going to do this damn race. I’ve now entered the fundraising part of this saga and every penny counts. If you would like to sponsor me you can chuck money at: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/james-hill36
