A student plans to run his first ever marathon to thank the hospital that saved his father’s life.
Jeet, a 20-year-old from Harrow, is raising money for the National Brain Appeal, the charity that supports The National Hospital where his father was treated.
Hours after returning from weddings in Kenya and Tanzania in December 2008, Jeet’s father Mukesh was taken ill with extreme fatigue and difficulty breathing.
Shortly after, he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a disease that affects only one in 100,000 people.
It causes the body’s immune system to attack the peripheral nerves, resulting in muscle weakness.
After six months at The National Hospital, Mukesh was transferred to a rehabilitation unit at Northwick Park Hospital where he remained for a further year and a half receiving physiotherapy and support to help improve his mobility. After nearly two years in hospital, Mukesh made a phenomenal recovery and in 2015 celebrated his 50th birthday with the whole family.
Jeet said: “The London Marathon has been something I have wanted to do for a long time to honour my father’s fight for fitness. I am so grateful for the care my father received when he was in hospital.
“Without the fantastic work of the doctors and nurses at The National Hospital, he would not be alive today. They provided him with the best possible care and support imaginable along the way.”
Jeet is set to run on Sunday April 23. To support him, visit: justgiving.com/fundraising/jeet-vaghela
