Two marathons down, two to go for Braunston's Chris Edge who is raising money for The National Brain Appeal in memory of his niece

A 44-year-old man is halfway through the unprecedented challenge he set himself to raise money for The National Brain Appeal charity in memory of his niece Chloe.
To donate text: CECH48 £1 to 70070 or visit Chriss fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/Christopher-Edge/To donate text: CECH48 £1 to 70070 or visit Chriss fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/Christopher-Edge/
To donate text: CECH48 £1 to 70070 or visit Chriss fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/Christopher-Edge/

Chris Edge has completed two out of the four marathons he intends to run this year - the Shakespeare Marathon in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 24 and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in Liverpool on May 29. The next one is in France on August 7 and the final one in Scotland on September 25.

Chris completed the first maratho in four hours, 15 minutes and 39 seconds. Then, just five weeks later, achieved the faster time of three hours, 58 minutes and 59 seconds in Liverpool. He said: “It’s been tough and emotional but I am delighted I’ve come this far and I’m already looking forward to the next one!”

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Chris lives in Braunston with wife Dawn and their seven-year-old daughter Tilly. His niece, Chloe Harvey, died following a devastating brain bleed in January 2015, at the age of 23. Chris is fundraising for The National Brain Appeal who raise vital funds for The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, where Chloe spent 11 days in intensive care.

To donate text: CECH48 £1 to 70070 or visit Chriss fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/Christopher-Edge/To donate text: CECH48 £1 to 70070 or visit Chriss fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/Christopher-Edge/
To donate text: CECH48 £1 to 70070 or visit Chriss fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/Christopher-Edge/

Chloe was a fit and healthy young woman who took great care of her health. She was unaware that she had an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) where an area of her brain’s blood vessels had developed abnormally. Chloe worked for the Access Group as an internal account manager. On her way to work on January 16, 2015 she had a sudden, severe headache which left her unsteady and nauseous. The AVM had ruptured causing a large bleed around her brain. Her local emergency department recognised the severity of her condition and transferred her to the neurosurgical intensive care unit at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen Square, London.

Chris said: “The staff at The National were just amazing. They tried everything they could for Chloe and were incredibly supportive to Chloe’s mum Sue and all of the family.”

“Sadly Chloe didn’t regain consciousness and died on January 27, 2015. We were devastated and it is still so hard to believe Chloe is not with us. It is just heartbreaking. She was so young and so full of ideas of what she wanted to do with her life.

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“At her young age she had already worked in banking before moving into sales where she was doing really well. She was also rediscovering a love of drama first ignited when she was at school and had been performing and directing at her local theatre company in her spare time.”

To donate text: CECH48 £1 to 70070 or visit Chriss fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/Christopher-Edge/To donate text: CECH48 £1 to 70070 or visit Chriss fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/Christopher-Edge/
To donate text: CECH48 £1 to 70070 or visit Chriss fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/Christopher-Edge/

When he was thinking about what he could do to honour Chloe’s memory, Chris recalled a cherished story of when, as a four year old, she insisted that she could speak four languages - English, Scottish, Scouse and French. To prove her point she explained that the word ‘little’ in English is ‘wee’ in Scottish, ‘tiny’ in Scouse and ‘petit’ in French. “We couldn’t argue with that!”, Chris recalls.

So, to represent Chloe’s ‘four languages’, Chris chose four marathons:

* Shakespeare Marathon in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 24

* Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in Liverpool on May 29

To donate text: CECH48 £1 to 70070 or visit Chriss fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/Christopher-Edge/To donate text: CECH48 £1 to 70070 or visit Chriss fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/Christopher-Edge/
To donate text: CECH48 £1 to 70070 or visit Chriss fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/Christopher-Edge/

* Marathon de Saint André des Eaux on August 7

* Loch Ness Marathon on September 25

Chris added: “I want to raise money for The National Brain Appeal as they support the hospital who were so supportive to my sister Sue and family as well as giving expert care to my niece Chloe. It’s my way of saying thank you to all the staff there.”

To donate, text CECH48 £1 to 70070 or visit Chris’s fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/Christopher-Edge/

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