A little girl.
A big reason to run.

Evie is one of our twin daughters. Alongside her sister Millie, she fills our days with love, laughter and the wonderful chaos of family life.

Evie was born with a heart condition called a ventricular septal defect, or VSD, a hole in her heart. Knowing that our little girl needed surgery to repair it was frightening. As parents, all Charlotte and I wanted was to be able to do the difficult part for her.

After a last-minute postponement because an urgent case took priority, Evie’s operation went ahead at Alder Hey in November 2026.

Before surgery, we understood that the hole was around 1cm. Afterwards, the surgeon explained that it was actually closer to 2cm by 4cm, with some tissue that had tried to close it.

The repair was complex, but the news after surgery was everything we had hoped to hear. The surgeon told us that they believed they had closed the hole completely, with no leaks detected, and were confident that this could be the only operation she would need to repair it. Hearing those words brought an enormous sense of relief.

Evie spent time in intensive care before moving onto the ward to continue her recovery. Seeing her begin to recover, surrounded by the people caring for her, gave us so much to be grateful for.

We will always remember what Alder Hey did for our daughter, and the surgeons, nurses and wider team who looked after her through such an important moment in her life.