My Father, Graham Spittles, recently suffered some heart complications and was taken to and treated at Harefield Hospital, by many of the wonderful staff including Vas Panoulas, Konstantinos Kalogeras, Sunil K. Bhudia, Adam Rowland, many other amazing staff members in the Intensive Care Unit including James, Eimear, and Caroline, as well as many of the staff in the Acorn Ward and Rehab nurses including Sharron Bartlett, Jascilla, Camilia Aciu, Sarah Colgan, Caitlin Moore and Claire Chalwin. Also Doctor Bashir and Dr Nicholas Sims, and of course the paramedics that arrived.

There are so many amazing staff members to mention and I'm sure I may have missed many other wonderful staff who have helped my Dad begin and continue his recovery back to full health.

My family and I will be eternally grateful for all the emergency and critical care, expertise and ongoing support my father has received.

I couldn't be prouder of my Family, my Dad for the remarkable strength and desire he has shown to overcome and fight through. My Mum, Carol - for always being there for Dad and us all, getting Dad to the emergency services so quickly and for always doing anything for all her family, my Sister - Hannah for her support, and of course the love and strength we've had from my Wife - Emma, Brother in Law Rob, and all our children. Special mention to my Aunt Sharon and Uncle Philip who were with us supporting every day in hospital, and thank you to All of our family members, friends and work colleagues who's help and support has been immense throughout, and without which this most difficult time would have been even worse.

I have never taken part in a marathon before, just a couple of half marathon's and I had only given myself 12 weeks to train - but Run, walk or crawl I am determined to do this; and I will be honoured and delighted to raise as much funds as possible for the Royal Brompton and Harefield Trust.

I am running the 26 mile Grand Canal Challenge starting at Royal Brompton Hospital, London and finishing at Harefield Hospital on Sunday 1st July. There will be a Finishers' Festival at Harefield Hospital with music, food and drink to help celebrate (if I'm able to). If you are able to come along, please do so and help us celebrate this special occasion with my family and I.

All money raised will go towards supporting the health and welfare of patients by providing state-of-the-art equipment and new facilities, as well as supporting cutting-edge research into heart and lung conditions.

Thank you again to all the staff at Harefield Hospital for all you have done for us, and I am so passionate and proud to be part of this event and will help in anyway I can, to start to acknowledge and repay what you have done for my family.

Please support and donate if you can for Harefield Hospital.

Thank you!
Steve Spittles Steve Spittles