Ross runs the London Marathon for TOFS

On 27th February 2022 we welcomed a beautiful baby boy into our lives. We loved Corey Grayson Jeavons from the moment we laid eyes on him.

Unfortunately, Corey's life is not straight forward. He was born with Oesophageal Atresia and Tracheo-Oesophageal Fistula, meaning that his food pipe was not connected to his stomach - and in fact had a connection to his windpipe. In essence he was and is unable to swallow.

Two mammoth surgeries were unable to resolve the issue, meaning that our baby boy is currently fed through a tube into his stomach (inserted in surgery three) and has an 'oesophagostomy' - a hole in the neck where he secretions and saliva go when he swallows. As part of his wider issues, Corey also has a right-side aortic arch - making his surgeries more difficult, as well as a single horseshoe kidney and high blood pressure.

A few weeks ago, 'Cor Cor' was back in theatre for a 'Gastric Pull Up', which effectively turned his stomach into a tube to replace his oesophagus. This left him in intensive care for another two weeks, including a number of complications which resulted in leaks from the neck. We're still in and out of hospital today as we look to work towards a future in which Corey will be able to swallow in some way, though he will never quite be able to eat as well as others. Many people with the condition suffer from recurrent chest and lung infections, amongst other complications.

Around twenty five children in the UK each year have this condition to the extent that Corey does, in that the gap between the top and end of his oesophagus is too long to natively repair.

Most of you know that running was a passion of mine, however, since Corey's birth - for obvious reasons I've barely pounded the pavement (I considered myself 'semi-retired!'). However, I recently saw an appeal from the charity TOFS for a late London Marathon replacement, due to injury. TOFS offer lifelong support for those unable to swallow, and are working towards a world in which those bo

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A wonderful and emotional day in London!

Corey was unexpectedly back in hospital for a procedure on Saturday, seemingly curtailing our hopes that he would be there to see me on the day.

However, Katie pushed hard for a discharge and they were both there to surprise me out on the course! It spurred me on to finish in 3 hours 46 minutes. The time was irrelevant - it was all about getting Corey his medal! 

Quickly threw together a training plan. No idea if it'll get me to the start line, lead to injury or work out OK!

Photo at the bottom for morning motivation of course...