We recently interviewed Adrian who raised nearly $8,000 to support EB families running the 10km Canberra Marathon this year.
Q. Why did you choose to fundraise for DEBRA?
“I chose to fundraise for DEBRA for a few reasons. Firstly, some of my two best mates, Matt and Nina have a beautiful little daughter, Lola who suffers from EB. I know how much DEBRA has been a support to them, so I wanted to take the chance to support DEBRA to say thanks in a way. Also, through hearing about DEBRA I have come to realise the absolute importance of your work. This is both in terms of the support you provide families, but also the focus on finding a cure. Finally, as DEBRA doesn’t receive any direct government funding, I thought it was important to help back ‘the little guy’ so to speak.”
Q. What motivation did you have to make sure you hit your target and complete the run?
“Lola was and continues to be my motivation. She never left my mind every time I went to train for the run, and every time we did a push for more people to fundraise. Her absolute determination and toughness in coping with her EB is nothing short of inspiring and no doubt reflects the amazing resolve of other people with EB. Keeping Lola front of mind helped me keep all the running blisters and pain in context. In a way, she was the reason I got across the line.”
*Photo credit to Michelle Doherty
Q. How did it make you feel when there is so many generous people that contributed to your target?
“I think we had well over 80 people donate in the end. This made me feel thrilled that more people knew about EB and were willing to dig deep. Hopefully those people will stay engaged with DEBRA in future. The effort also triggered a small workplace fundraiser in my office which again was great for awareness raising, as well as getting some more money from the run.”
On behalf of all the families, a huge thank you to Adrian for completing the marathon, raising the funds and showing us how it’s done!