In October 2015, about a fortnight before she was due to give birth to our daughter, my girlfriend experienced a very sudden onset of Bell's Palsy, resulting in paralysis on the right side of her face. Frankly, it turned what should have been a very joyous and exciting time into a very dark time indeed.

Having never heard of this condition, I then started to hear of several instances of people who had friends, or friends of friends who had suffered from the same thing. It seemed it could happen to anybody, not just heavily pregnant women.

The exact causes of Bell's Palsy are still not fully understood, and currently there are no nationally funded trials investigating cures or treatments for facial palsy. This leads to uncertainty regarding best practice and treatment and as a result, people may struggle to get the support they need.

Aside from the very obvious physical impact of a facial palsy, the emotional distress it causes is utterly enormous. We are still not out of the woods yet, but my missus' (outstanding) courage has seen her pick herself up from some quite desperately low moments over the past few months.

I therefore want to run to help raise awareness of this condition, and also to raise money to help fund research so that for future, we can build a greater understanding and try to help people who find themselves in a similar situation to us.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Guy